Roux Dame
by Tirnel
Summary: AU Grelliam story set in a modern time. William is a cold-hearted business man who gets dragged to a male strip club by former classmate Eric. There he witnesses the performance of one particular dancer that makes his heart want to burn with passion. Disclaimers inside, please read BEFORE making untoward comments.
1. Chapter 1

_I would like to add that I've never been to a strip club, or had any participation in any such things. It merely a plot device for this story and does not reflect my views on the subject so please refrain from comments such as:_ **Strip clubs are for trash.** _or_ _any other sort of negative comments about such._

 _A/N: The first chapter was co-wrote with a fellow author. There is another story out there with a similar story line. but this story is not in any way connected with that story and was not thought about until after the first chapter was wrote. This one came about from some general silliness in writing A Little Self-Education._

William didn't pay attention to the name the club as Eric dragged him inside. He only knew that he didn't really want to be in this place or in this part of time. He had a reputation to uphold after all as an emotionless, cold man who thought only of business and numbers. Besides, he had no idea why Eric would think he would be interested in male strippers. Honestly. Did his lack of dates lead Eric to some sort of erroneous assumption?

The music was low and actually tasteful to William's surprise as Eric pulled him to a table right next to the stage. A slender brunette was dancing, and it was obviously him that had Eric's attention. He had been working at a bouncer for this seedy place for nearly a month now, and William had heard more than his fair share about someone named Alan. The aforementioned man went about his routine in a sexual yet somewhat mechanical way. He wasn't the kind that would have caught William's eye, even if he was interested in this sort of thing, but Eric was obviously entranced.

"Willy boy!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled, "Imagine seeing you here!"

Inwardly, William groaned as he turned to see a tall, silver-haired man standing way too close for comfort. He leaned even further into William's space with an odd sort of leer stretched across his face. "It's not what you think," William said, "I only came here for Eric, but I probably should be going. This isn't really my sort of place." He started to stand.

The man, whom William only knew as Undertaker, gently pushed William back into his seat. "Don't leave yet, Willy," he whispered, "The real show's about to begin."

Suddenly the lights dropped and a vague shadow slinked out onto the stage. When the lights returned, now tinted a rosy hue, a redhead was draped against a pole. His fair skin stood out from the darkness as he began to sway ever so slightly. Still dressed, William's eyes were drawn down to the slender hips as they moved as hypnotically as a snake. His mouth had gone dry as he watched, and he wasn't even aware he had leaned forward until he bumped the table. Meanwhile, the redhead had begun to move as his long delicate fingers began to slowly unbutton his top. William noticed that the dancer was wearing something like a mock-up of a business suit, much like his own, but William didn't have much time to consider it as the outfit was slowly, tantalizingly removed.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Undertaker, moving closer to the stage. The dancer glanced briefly at the silver-haired man. William thought he saw a hint of derision on the man's face as he looked away, removing more of his suit, singing a short, erotic song as he did so. William didn't pay attention to the words of the song; the man's voice as he sang was too entrancing and he felt is heart beat faster. He was even barely aware of the backup dancer that had temporarily joined the redhead as he danced and sang.

The song ended and the music picked up a faster pace. In time, the redhead took to the pole with amazing agility. William had never seen anyone move like that before. It was almost inhuman. The dancer's pants were torturously removed as he moved, finally revealing lacy red underpants. The music hit its final note. The redhead posed on that note with his leg hooked around the pole and his finger to his lips in a shushing manner. The lights around him shut off. When they came back on, he had gone from the stage and some of the haze surrounding William lifted a little as Undertaker rejoined him.

"Someone looks like he enjoyed himself," he cackled. "Are you glad you stayed now?"

William continued to stare at the now empty stage. Had it been a dream? "What was that?" he finally said.

Undertaker leaned forward on the table with a roguish glint in his visible eye. "Would you like to find out?" William dragged his eyes from the stage to look at the man. "You can rent a private room and meet the precious ruby of this establishment. Just see Pops over there." He pointed to an older man across the crowded room. "He owns the place. Red doesn't come cheap now, I warn you, and she's quite feisty too." He added with a wink.

"She?" The dancer on the stage had clearly been a man. Undertaker merely shrugged his shoulders and left the table after paying for his drinks.

Eric returned from wherever he had gone to (William had not even noticed him leaving). His hair was tousled and his clothes rumpled. "You're still here?"

"I was compelled to stay," He answered absently.

"Ole Red caught your eye, eh?" Eric said with amusement. "Can't say I blame ya. Quite a looker that one. I admit I've been tempted by him a time or two myself, but I'd never do that to my Al." The brunette that was dancing when they came in quietly seated himself beside Eric dressed in regular clothes, though remnants of glitter remained on his face.

William looked back over to where the owner sat. He couldn't believe he was actually considering it. Undertaker was bent over the table where Pops sat. They seemed to be having a bit of an argument. It seemed Undertaker was trying to request a private audience with a dancer, presumably the so called 'Red', but kept being turned down. An irrational sense of relief filled him when Undertaker left after it became clear he wasn't going to get what he wanted.

William wasted no more time and went over to Pops. "How much?" he asked. "For a private room with the one they call 'Red' I mean." It didn't sit right with him as soon as the words left his mouth. Paying money for another person, a stranger, to pleasure him, but he had to see him again.

A young man with blonde and black hair and presumably a bodyguard standing beside Pops snapped a picture of William with his phone at the mention of Red. "'Red' as they call him, insists on seeing who is paying for his services beforehand," Pops stated unapologetically. After a moment's wait, the bodyguard gave Pops a thumbs up. Pops folded his hands upon the table and looked at William directly. "The lowest price we can offer is 1000 for one hour and includes just a private showing. To include a lap dance will run an extra hundred. Then there is the special R-rated package which cost 2500. It includes everything plus a little something extra, if you know what I mean." William didn't know much about how much private rooms generally cost, but that seemed an exorbitant amount for one dancer. Undertaker had said this dancer didn't come cheap, but still…"Which package are you interested in?"

"The special." What? The words just seemed to fall out of his mouth, like he had no longer any control over his actions. Regardless that his mind screamed he wasn't interested in this sort of thing, the money exchanged hands and William was escorted to a hall where they passed several doors that matched the color scheme of the club until they came to one that stuck out amongst the others as it had been painted red. The guard let him into the room.

"Wait here." The guard instructed. "Make yourself comfortable. He'll be here in a moment.

William took a seat on the plush red couch surrounded by crimson colored gossamer drapery. William was beginning to sense this man really like the color red. A heavy perfume hung in the air. Several times as he waited, he debated whether or not he should call it off and just leave. He was just coming to a decision, the door opened and the redhead entered. William stood to his feet. The dancer had changed into some sort of women's lingerie. Red of course. The top and robe was made of sheer fabric trimmed in black and the bottoms were a frilly layered mix of red and black. He eyed William coldly and said, "Let's get this over with." He pushed William down onto the couch and began his routine, starting off with straddling William's lap and grinding his hips provocatively. His movements were fluid, sensuous, and William had trouble tearing his eyes away, but the expression on the redhead's face was totally out of sync with his gyrating lower half.

"Wait a moment," William said hazily. He placed his hands on the man's hips and forced him to stop. "What is your name?" He didn't move his hands away immediately, and he couldn't deny how much enjoyed the feel of the rounded flesh beneath his palms.

The redhead blinked a few times as if no one had spoken to him before. "My name doesn't matter to you. Just call me Red like everyone else does. You paid me for pleasure not a friendly chat."

"I would much rather know your name." Though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"Look, _darling,_ I'm trying to make a living here. Either let me do what you paid me for or get lost and don't expect a refund."

William made no move to leave, oddly comfortable and content to leave the mysterious redhead on his lap while he tried to sort through the torrid emotions swirling about inside him. Who was this creature who made his cold icy heart yearn to burn with fire? Was it love or lust? He wasn't sure, but he knew this was wrong and it didn't sit right with him.

'Red' had started moving again. His lithe body moved with an ancient rhythm that made William's heart beat like some sort of primal drum. The redhead moved back and forth, tantalizing and tempting, and he was mesmerizing as a hypnotist's watch. William felt his hands rising forward to take hold of charming body, but he stopped the dancing instead as he looked up to catch 'Red's' eyes. "What the hell is your problem?!" The redhead snapped at him.

"I am sorry, but I cannot do this. A man should not have to pay you to spend time with him." He gently pushed the smaller man off his lap. Removing his wallet from his pocket, he pulled out some notes and tossed them onto the low table that held glasses and some bottles of booze. "For any trouble I may have caused you tonight." With that, he went straight home and took a cold shower.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

William rose from the bed the same time as he did every morning. He stopped at the nearest coffee shop, as he did nearly every morning for his breakfast to go, a lightly toasted bagel and black coffee. That evening had all been forgotten, except when he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and he had to take a moment to rid himself of the emotions and the desire to see him again. Normally he wouldn't eat in his car as he drove to the office, but he was going to have a busy day today that left no other time to eat. He greeted his secretary as he passed her desk. Ex-secretary. She was leaving the company, which was why he was going to be spending that morning interviewing for a replacement.

She stepped out of the cab and straightened her skirt and adjusted her blouse. A young man followed her out of the cab. "Are ya sure ya want to do this?" he asked.

"Anderson is a pushover," she answered as she dug for something in her purse.

"It ain't him I'm worried about. Sure he'd hate to lose the business ya bring him, but he'd let you go. It's the brat and his pet that I'm worried about. Ya know what they'll do if ya don't pay 'em."

"To hell with them, they don't own me. I only took this job because I had no other choice at the time and what's going to happen when I get too old for this kind of work? People don't want to see an eighty year old woman in a thong on a pole." Her friend made a disgusted look at the thought and leaned against the building. "Besides, I'm sick of being looked at as nothing more than a piece of meat to be lusted over," she added as she fussed with her makeup.

"What's gotten into ya lately?"

"Nothing," she lied, snapping the compact closed and stuffing it back into her bag. Nothing, except the fact that she couldn't get those man's words out of her head. Now she wanted to find a more respectable job and better herself so she could be seen as a lady and not some trollop. To belong to one man and not many. "Hold my coat." She tossed her red trench coat at him for him to hold. "How do I look?"

"I'd say if ya get this job and your boss starts putting the moves on ya boss starts putting the moves on ya, he's gonna be mighty surprised when he lifts up your skirts. I'm only teasing ya, calm down!" He said defensively when she gave him a deadly look. "Ya look good. Knock him dead."

William sighed and rubbed his forehead. This one wouldn't do either. He dismissed her and popped a couple of aspirin in his mouth. "Send in the next one, Ms. Jennings," he said into the intercom. The door opened and William's secretary showed in the next applicant.

"Ms. Sutcliff," Ms. Jennings announced with a little uncertainty in her voice.

William allowed his eyes to meet those of Ms. Sutcliff and a strange look passed over her face. "Ms. Sutcliff, I am William T. Spears. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. He took the opportunity to look over her appearance as she seated herself.

Her clothes were neat and crisp, though the blouse was a little baggy around the chest, but William supposed this could be by design; however it was a moot point as he knew little about women's fashion. Overall though she looked as if she was dressed more going out for drinks and not an interview in her dress. Her heels were impractically high and her skirt was impossibly tight and unprofessionally short and RED. Her blouse was white and her brown hair had been pulled up into a bun and heavily sprayed. On her nose sat a pair of ordinary, unassuming glasses with a simple chain attached. William hoped this wasn't a sign that she had a penchant for losing them.

His eyes kept being drawn back down to her skirt and her very attractive, slender pale legs. The skirt was red. Red. Just like his hair. He could smell his perfume. Was she wearing it or was his mind once again playing tricks on him? "Mr. Spears?" His mind snapped back to the present and he looked back up to see his face, _her_ face. He passed a hand over his face to rid himself of the hallucination. Reopening his eyes, the face was still the same. "Are you feeling alright, Mr. Spears?" she asked. Even the voice was similar, if his memory served him correctly, but it was in a higher register and more gentle.

"I'm…" he cleared his throat, "fine." He tried to proceed with the interview, but what were the questions he was to ask? His mind kept coming up blank and after several moments of awkward silence, Sutcliff began to fidget. "I beg your pardon," he finally said. "Can you come back tomorrow? It appears I am feeling a little ill after all." Perhaps his mind would be clearer and she wouldn't be wearing _that_ color.

She excused herself, hurriedly getting up and all but fleeing from the office. He needed to fix this. It wouldn't do to go about seeing _his_ face on everyone. But what could he do? What _did_ one do in these situations? How did a man date another man? How did one even _date_?! He buried his face in his hands. Date? Was that what he, William T. Spears was considering? It was such a foreign concept to him.

But maybe it didn't _have_ to be a date. They could just go somewhere and talk, but therein laid another problem; he didn't know the man's name or the name of the place where he worked or where it was and he certainly didn't want to bother him there again. Not only would he have to pay a hefty sum just to get long enough to hold a proper conversation, but William doubted he could keep his thoughts _on_ the conversation. Plus the redhead would insist on doing what he was paid for and not be interested in talking.

Seeing how he worked nights, the man was likely to be home around now and likely to be sleeping, but perhaps he would be understanding once William bought him some coffee and explained everything to him. So how would he go about getting his name and address? He pulled out his mobile.

" _Slingby_."

"Slingby, it's Mr. Spears. I have a favor to ask of you."

" _Shoot_." William heard the tell tale signs of a cigarette being lit on the other end of the line.

"That strip club you dragged me to about a month ago, there was a dancer. A redhead. I was wondering if you could get me his name and address. His _real_ name."

" _Sorry, boss_." He answered, using the nickname he and his classmates had bestowed upon William as it had become a joke that they would all one day be working for William. " _I can't help ya. Even if I knew his address, I could get fired_."

"Eric, it is very important. Nothing sexual, I swear." Was it?

Eric sighed, "You're really hung up on this guy aren't ya?"

William felt his cheeks flush and he gripped his phone tighter as he answered, "No, I just need to speak with him about something."

Eric chuckled, " _Ya don't_ _fool me, boss, but very well. Hang on a moment."_ Eric could be heard speaking softly to someone, probably the one called Alan for a moment before he returned and gave William the address.

"And his name?"

" _Oh. Mr. G. Sutcliff._ "

"Does he have a sister?" he asked in shock.

" _What?"_ Eric laughed.

"Never mind." After all he couldn't possibly be the only Sutcliff in the world.

" _Good luck, boss and try not to die out there._ " Eric hung up before he had a chance to ask what he meant.

"How'd it go?" Her friend asked as she came out of the building. Seeing the look on her face, he added, "Not good?"

"Shut up. Just shut up!" she snapped as she stepped to the curb and hailed a cab. It was him. Why did it have to be him? Did the fates have some sort of sick, twisted humor? She goes hunting for a job and the first face she sees is the one who got her into this mess. Her friend slid into the cab next to her and she laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ronnie. I don't mean to snap."

"You're just tired, is all. You should go home and get your beauty sleep," he answered, but she was already asleep. He hoped the makeup she left on his favorite t-shirt would come out, not to mention any of the temporary hair dye she had in her hair.


	3. Chapter 3

William nervously looked around the neighborhood. This couldn't be right. Eric must have given him the wrong address. At the prices Sutcliff charged he should be living in some high rent district and not…here. This neighborhood wasn't fit for a cat to live, let alone a human. As if to prove his point, he passed a cat lying dead on the side of the road. He promptly sped up his vehicle. He finally found the house he was looking for, if it could be called that, at the end of a dead end street. A small two story with a red roof and was practically falling apart. He stepped out of the car and started up the path to the front door. The path was surrounded by what may have once been a beautiful rose garden but was now full of weeds and bramble.

And who in heaven's name keeps a big boulder on their porch?

He paused as the boulder moved and raised its massive head. It looked at him and let out a deafening bark. It growled and stood on its paws, each the size of William's head. William turned heel and shot for his car, shutting the door just in time for humongous jaws to snap at his window. A half dressed man came out the front door yelling in what sounded like Russian. A man with such musculature as William was sure one would classify him as 'Adonis'. Even though William made certain to stay in shape, there was no way he could take this man single-handedly should this man decide he wanted William to forever leave his property. As he approached the car, William was seriously wishing he carried a weapon of sorts. There was the prototype of the company's featured product of their line, but it was in the trunk and still probably would have been ineffective against this man.

The man grabbed the dog, for lack of a better word, and pulled it away from the car window. He rapped on the window with his knuckles and William rolled it down to a crack. "Can I help you?" he asked with an accent.

"I'm looking for a Mr. Sutcliff."

"What do you want with Grell?" Was that what the 'G.' stood for? What an odd name.

"I just need to talk with him."

"Grell is sleeping. Come back later…or never." The man eyed him distrustfully. William had the horrible feeling that this man might be a boyfriend of sorts.

"I realize that, but I must speak with him. Please."

"You obviously don't know my roommate well if you are suggesting waking him. He has fearful temper when woken. Even frightens Vladimir." He patted the dog.

Just roommate? Or were they lovers? "It is either wake him or bother him at work and I would prefer not to bother him with this business while he is working." The Russian thought about it for a moment before speaking to the dog, telling him to go lie down. Or so William assumed as the man spoke in Russian and the dog did it. Then the man motioned for him to follow.

The wood creaked and gave a little as they stepped up onto the porch as William followed the man inside who had introduced himself as Andrei. He didn't bother with the last name as no one could ever pronounce it anyway. He shared this house with Grell and two seasonal Germans that needed a place to crash when they were in the area. "It's the first room at the top of the stairs," Andrei instructed. "I'll keep the emergency services on standby in case you need them," he laughed before disappearing into another part of the house.

He could have sworn the stairs were about to give way with each step he took to the top. He knocked several times before the door opened to reveal a sleepy yet very angry redhead in woman's nightclothes. "It had better be important. What do you want?" He squinted at William. "Who the hell are you?" He fumbled with a pair of red glasses that hung about his neck by an elaborate chain and slipped them onto his nose.

"My name is W-"

"Is this some sort of sick joke? Did that brat and his demon butler put you up to this? How much did they pay you? I don't care how handsome you are. I will not be toyed with!" The door was slammed in William's face. Grell Sutcliff thought he was handsome? And what was all that about a demon butler? Whoever he was, he didn't sound the sort William wanted to be associated with if he was to be referred to as 'demonic'.

"It is not a joke. I do not know any demonic butlers. The truth is," he hesitated, "the truth is I cannot stop thinking about that night when I first saw you. In fact it has been quite bothersome. So much so that it interfered with important business I had today. An interview I had with someone I believe to be a relative of yours. I did not get her first name, but meeting her today prompted me to contact an associate of ours to find out your name and address. I was wondering if you would be interested in going…going out somewhere sometime and do an activity together. Perhaps have a conversation over some coffee." He sounded ridiculous. Do an activity together? What was he thinking? Yes, what _was_ he thinking? This man was a stripper who had probably been with half of London by now. Making people want to be with him was his job and William had been taken in. They had absolutely nothing in common. It was obvious the things he was feeling towards this man was lust. How could he be so stupid? "Never mind. Forget it. I didn't realize what I was saying. Forgive me."

On the other side of the door, Grell had been listening to what he was saying. He couldn't stop thinking about her? He wanted to do an activity together? Was that his own awkward way of asking her out on a date? No one asks her out. No one cared about her in that way. It had to be some sort of trick, but she couldn't stop the warm feeling that blossomed in her chest from his words. And he was the one to give her a glimpse of what it meant to be looked on as a lady. Yes, they could start with coffee, and then perhaps move onto something more if he was truly interested in her.

She opened the door to answer him, but he was gone. She didn't bother putting on a robe or even shoes before running after him, opening the front door in time to see his car pulling away. "William, wait!" she shouted then took off down the path. If he saw her, he didn't show it as he continued to leave. She stopped at the end of the path.

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Oh, what an insufferable man! Did he or didn't he want to go out with her? She did not like being toyed with. Well she would show him. He had an interview with a 'relative of hers' tomorrow. A 'sister'. She had already managed to fool him once with her disguise and she hadn't even been trying then. She would go to that interview tomorrow and find out what his game was.

A ponytail this time instead of a bun that she tied back with a red bow and a red and white striped ribbon tied around her neck. Another white blouse and a modest black skirt. It wouldn't do to have Mr. Spears lusting after her 'sister' as it were. She took the offered to her with a polite smile. William, on the other hand, did not seem happy to see her. "Let's get this over with," he said monotonously. "And might I have your first name this time, Ms. Sutcliff?"

"Jacqueline," she replied, instantly wishing she had chosen a better name, one that did not remind her if someone she would rather forget, even if he was probably dead by now as she hadn't seen or heard from him since that day. "And may I apologize for yesterday? I was quite unaware that you were acquainted with my brother. We look a lot alike, you see. Even our own mother used to mix us up all the time. Course it didn't help when he began to go around claiming to be a woman and sometimes dressing as one."

"I see…" William adjusted his glasses. "Ms. Sutcliff, do you have any previous experience working as a secretary?"

"I am afraid not, but I am a fast learner and I do have experience working for a company very similar to this one. I was in manufacturing. I cannot recall the name of the company; it was so many years ago."

"What do you do currently?"

"I am a dancer…and an actress. Though I haven't really pursued acting in a while. Dancing has been keeping me pretty busy."

"A dancer? Like your brother?"

"Excuse me?" she started, had she said too much?

"Your brother, Grell. I believe he also is a 'dancer'.

"Oh. I don't have much contact with my brother these days. Is that what he does now? Fancy that. What kind of dancing does he do?"

"It does not matter. Your dancing career sounds like it is very profitable to you. Why give it up?"

"I thought it was time I got a more stable career. After all, who knows how many years I have left before people find me boring and move on to the next big thing. What if something happens and I suffer some horribly tragic injury that ends my career as a dancer?"

"That sounds sensible. However, let me get this straight: you had a steady job and you gave it up to pursue this career in dancing and are now leaving it to pursue a job as a secretary."

"I had to leave the manufacturing job for personal reasons. Family related, you might say. After that-"

William held up his hand. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Sutcliff. If you leave your number with my secretary, we will call you if we need you. Goodbye,"

"Is that all?"

"Yes. Goodbye."

"William-"

"Mr. Spears," he corrected.

"William," she persisted. His brow twitched and she found it absolutely adorable. "Please, I really am a fast learner. I will go home and read every book here is on how to be a secretary. Please let me have the job," she pleaded.

William sighed and sat back in his chair. "One week. If you fail to impress me by that time, you will be seeking employment elsewhere."

Her face lit up in a smile and she jumped up and down. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I could kiss you!"

"Please do not. Be here tomorrow at eight."

"Yes, yes of course." She shook his hand exuberantly. "You will not regret it, Will- I mean Mr. Spears" She practically danced as she left the room. She sent a text to Ronald and Alan asking if they wanted to meet for somewhere for lunch.

William on the other hand was wondering what had possessed him to agree to this. This woman didn't have any of the qualifications he required for the position. Not to mention something about the whole deal was shady and something about the name 'Sutcliff' was niggling at the back of his mind. He had heard or seen it somewhere before.

 _(props to Avatar: Last Airbender fans who caught it..it was not intentional, but I left it in after noticing it)_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

So ya got the job after all?" Ronald asked as he dunked a biscuit into his coffee while she came to the realization that she had been so caught up in her performance and that cold hard gaze of William's that she had quite forgotten her mission.

"It's more like a trial period, but he'll soon see he can't live, I mean work without me." She sipped her tea while Alan snoozed on the table beside her. She poked him till he woke up.

"You guys are crazy," he mumbled, "How do you plan on working tonight?"

"Well you didn't have to come you know," she said in mock offense. "And where's that handsome hunk of a boyfriend of yours anyway? I swear he follows you around like a lost puppy."

"He's on his way. Why _are_ you quitting Grell? I thought you enjoyed it. Everyone likes you and you make more than any of us. You've become sort of an idol to us."

' _That merely proves how good an actress I am_ ', she thought to herself.

"Rumor has it there's this guy he's trying to impress," chimed in Ronald.

"You should know better than to trust rumors, mustard seed. I told you why I was quitting yesterday morning."

"Yeah, but ya have a way of coloring the truth to suit your needs." He dodged a sugar packet that she threw at him. "It was Eric who told me there was guy who was sweet on ya and now ya making life changing decisions."

"It's my life. If I want to change it, I will. There doesn't have to be a man involved."

The bells over the door to the shop chimed and Ronald looked over Grell's shoulder. "Eric's here, and it looks like he's brought company."

Grell turned to look, her eyes widening when she saw who it was. "I, uh, I have to use the ladies room." She grabbed her purse and made a run for the bathroom.

William and Eric placed their orders and soon joined Ronald and Alan. Eric greeted Alan with a kiss, draping an arm around his shoulders as he gave Ronald a fist bump. "Guys, this is my former classmate, William. William, this is Ronald and Alan, my coworkers." William recognized the two from the club, greeting them politely in turn. "Where is Grell anyway?" Eric asked. "Wasn't this party his idea?"

"Bathroom," Alan answered, slumping against Eric's shoulder. William's grip on his beverage container tightened. He hadn't been aware that Grell would be attending when he had accepted Eric's invitation for lunch.

None of them noticed the bathroom door creep open or Grell slip out. Keeping low and out of sight, she hid behind the partition near the table where her friends and William sat. It was rude to eavesdrop, but they were likely to talk about her and she wanted to know what they were saying. Besides, she didn't think she could make it to the door without being seen. Still being in her disguise, if William saw her, the 'jig would be up' as they say.

"Speaking of Red," Eric said. "How did your date go?"

"It wasn't a date," answered William.

"You went out with Grell?" Ronald asked at the same time.

"Oh that's right," Eric smirked. "You just wanted to 'meet with him'."

"I did. And we met. I said what I wanted to say. It is done with. End of story."

"But what'd ya want to talk to him about that was so important?"

"That is none of your affair, Slingby. I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out of it."

"Alright, alright," Eric conceded. "No need to get all huffy about it. I was just curious after all the risk I took so you could not ask him out cause you were too chicken to do so."

The chair William was seated in scraped the floor as he stood up. "I am the son of a family of well-repute and the supervisor of a very distinguished company, Slingby. That _man_ is a whore and a stripper. What makes you think I want any association with the likes of him?"

"Hey!" Ronald stood up. "Grell is my friend. I'll not have ya saying that kind of shit about him. Ya don't even know him!"

Grell's breath caught in her throat, and for a brief moment tears came to her eyes. She had put up such an impenetrable shield, but this odd man had managed to pique her interest regardless. She had been a fool to trust him! He had turned out to be like all of the others.

She thought about leaping from her hiding spot and confronting him right then and there, but her life had taught her the importance of waiting for the right moment. At the very worst, William might have been embarrassed or uncomfortable, but he would forget about being confronted by a 'whore' or, even worse, turn it into some sort of joke later. No, she had to wait for the right moment to get her revenge.

Slinking out of the coffee shop took some finesse, but she had learned to be slinky during her time as a dancer. She quickly sent a text to Ronald to make up some sort of excuse with full confidence in both his imagination and ability to think up a story on the fly, but a plan was already forming in her mind. She had been determined to play down her beauty to hide from William in plain sight, but maybe that wasn't the best option. She could be subtle, but she still knew how to hook a man. Instead of trying to simply impress William with her secretarial skills, which she would still learn, she would make the man fall in love with her. Before long, she would occupy every portion of his mind until he wouldn't be able to stop thinking of her.

Once she owned his heart fully, she would break it the way that her own had been broken so many times.

(x)

By the end of the week, William could most definitely say he was impressed. Ms. Sutcliff had defied his expectations and as such, felt obligated to give her the position despite whom she looked like or was related to. There were some things, however, he could control. The perfume she wore was the same as her brothers and he issued an order to not wear said perfume on the grounds that it was overbearing and she complied, by switching to another that he found equally alluring, but at least he it did not make him think of that red room. Alas there was nothing he could do about her face. There were moments when he thought perhaps she might be attempting to flirt with him. He ignored these moments and kept them in check at all times…At least until she wasn't looking.

Ms. Sutcliff, on the other hand was getting frustrated. What sort of man was he that she could have no affect on him? Granted she hadn't been at it very long, but surely she should have had evoked some reaction even if it was not the sort she was looking for. Perhaps she needed to be more aggressive. That red skirt had worked before. Therefore, she would rid herself of her demure apparel and wear something more attention grabbing. And if that failed to produce any results, she would get physical, just an "innocent" touch here and there.

She sat now in his office writing as he dictated a letter. Now officially hired, she had switched to a more permanent dye for her hair. She crossed her legs, allowing the red skirt to inch higher to expose more skin, just in case William should turn around. William had no plans on turning around anytime soon for he had noticed just which she had chosen to wear earlier that day. As he dictated, he debated whether or not it would be prudent to enforce a dress code, if nothing else it would prevent Ms. Sutcliff from wearing attire that was not…distracting.

"…Sincerely, William T. Spears."

"Will there be anything else, Mr. Spears?"

"That will be all for today. Type up that letter and leave it on my desk for me to sign, then you may go home."

"Yes, sir," she answered with a small pout. He hadn't turned around once! She'd just have to try again next time.

As she crossed the office to go out to her desk, her pen slipped out of her grasp. Thinking he had given her sufficient time to leave, William turned to see her bending over to retrieve the dropped object. The way the fabric of the skirt hugged the subtle curves of her rear end…and if it climbed any higher up her thighs, there wouldn't be much left to imagine. The room was suddenly quite warm.

"Ms. Sutcliff." His voice squeaked slightly, which he poorly tried to cover with a cough. Did handsome hind ends run in the family?

She smiled inwardly. She had him. Now to reel him. Straightening, she turned to look at him, a small sweet smile on her face. "Yes, Will?" she asked, the light dusting of red on his cheeks did not escape her notice.

"Do I need to enforce a dress code?" He asked with no emotion in his voice.

Her smile slipped a little. She was losing him. "Why ever for?"

"That skirt is most inappropriate for the workplace. This is not a nightclub."

"Are you saying it's immodest?" She feigned innocence.

"Very," he answered with a frown. "That skirt is-"

"Distracting? Alluring? Make you want to find out what secret things are hiding underneath?" As she spoke, she made her way back over to him, invading his personal space and running a finger along the edge of his collar. His breath caught in his throat at the unexpected intrusion as she fiddled with his tie before leaning in closer. She opened her mouth to say more but could not as he began kissing her, his tongue ravaging the inside of her mouth. Her surprise only lasted the briefest of moments before she returned the heated kisses.

His fingers tangled in her hair, tilting her head back as his other hand slid down her back to cup her bottom. She melted into his arms. She could feel his arousal pressing against her. Her own ached and strained under its confinement. He pressed her up against the desk then picked her up and set her upon it, making short work of the red and white striped ribbon she had tied around her neck on which he afterwards assaulted with ravenous kisses.

"William T. Spears!" A female voice gasped in astonishment. William withdrew from his secretary, standing up straight; his face flushed a bright red. "Your father makes you the supervisor of the company and here you are debauching some woman in your office." For it was his mother. "What will he say when he hears about this? What about the people we do business with? The headlines! I can just see the headlines now." She began to get hysterical.

Grell slid off the desk and clung to William's arm. "I do apologize, madam, but it really was quite harmless. You see, my dearest William just proposed to me. I couldn't help but say 'yes'. I do suppose we may have gotten a bit carried away in expressing our joy." William's eyes widened and looked down at her as she gazed up at him in adoration.

"William, is this true?" His mother asked. "I was not aware that you were dating anyone."

"He was afraid you would not approve." Grell dropped her gaze and looked humbled. "After all, I am not from a distinguished family like your son."

"And just who is your family, miss…?"

"Sutcliff, ma-am, Jacqueline Sutcliff."

The woman looked at her thoughtfully, as if she recognized the name before dismissing it and looking at William. "William, I am surprised by you. You should have at least given us a chance to meet the young lady and let us decide for ourselves. She seems like such a sweet girl. Of course we had hoped you would marry someone of at least equal social standing to yourself." She sighed. "Your father is not going to be pleased, but if you two are happy…I stopped by to remind you of the engagement we have arranged for next Thursday. You may bring your fiancée. I must be off." With a wave of her hand, she left.

"Ms. Sutcliff!" William began, finally finding his voice, though torn between upbraiding her for her impudence and complimenting her acting skills.

"Oh don't look at me that way, Will-darling. I was only trying to save your reputation. You don't have to go through with any of it. Just tell your mother we had a row or something and called the whole thing off. But if you want to continue our private soiree, I won't say no, however, I would much rather we go to dinner first. Tomorrow night, perhaps, when we are more refreshed."

"You mean like a date?"

"I mean whatever you want it to mean. Though I would prefer it to go further than one night. From what I've seen of you, Mr. Spears, you are precisely the sort of man I am interested in. Strong, handsome, and you have a good head on your shoulders. You seem like a very cold hearted man, but you can be really sweet when you want to be." She giggled and pecked his cheek. "Shall we say 5:30? I'll meet you here and then we can go to whichever restaurant you choose. What do you say?"

"I-" Perhaps he should take some time and get to know her better. To prevent another incident like the one that nearly happened, all because she reminded him of her brother. He knew so little about wither of them and what he did know made them so similar that he could almost believe they were the same person. Perhaps if he got to know her better, he might have an easier time separating the two in his mind. "Just dinner."

"As you wish. I'll see you then." She started off.

"Ms. Sutcliff."

"I'll get that letter typed up first thing Monday morning. I'll come in extra early, so don't fret." She grabbed her coat and her purse and she was gone.

She laughed and skipped all the way home. Now that the first step had been taken, it wouldn't be long now until his heart was in her clutches and then she would crush it.

Her steps faltered and slowed, the laughter dieing on her lips. Outside the house was parked a black limousine. She knew this was bound to happen. She hadn't made a payment since she stopped working at the club, but why did it have to be now? She had a date tomorrow. As she neared the vehicle, a white haired youth emerged from the driver's seat and opened the rear passenger door, out of which stepped a tall man with hair as back as a raven. He grabbed Grell's arm and shoved her into the car. An adolescent sitting inside smirked at her. "Is that supposed to be some sort of disguise so we wouldn't recognize you?"

"It has nothing to do with you, Phantomhive," she growled. "And you can forget about your money. I'm sick and tired of paying you.

The boy laughed hysterically. "You still think this is about the money? Do you no longer care what we may do to your brother?"

"No," she answered curtly.

"It appears the lesson has not been learned about knowing one's place. However, I have long since grown tired of this game. Sebastian, teach this freak a final lesson, as a parting gift. Then we shall be done with it. That's an order…And make sure you do it outside the car. I'd hate for its blood to get everywhere."

"Yes, my Lord," the dark haired butler answered, placing a hand over his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

(Warning: child abuse, 'present' events in italics)

He was drunk again. He often was nowadays. They did their best to stay out of his way, but sometimes it was an impossible task. Grell had a feeling that tonight was one of those nights as he looked out the bedroom door to see if the coast was clear. His bedroom door was slightly ajar, but it was dark and silent within. The bathroom was at the end of the hall. Grell would have to go past his room to get to it. While he would much rather stay put where he was currently safe, he didn't think he could hold it any longer.

He slowly crept down the hall, barely daring to breathe. The closer he got to their father's room, the slower he moved and the more his breath stilled, not wanting to give any cause for him to hear him. Once he was passed the door, he let out the breath he had been holding.

"You're supposed to be in bed."

Grell's heart leapt to his throat as he was grabbed from behind and thrown to the floor. His father's figure loomed above him, the metal studded belt in hand. "I n-needed to use the bathroom."

"Are you back-talking me?" Grell shook his head no, frightful tears running down his face, but it did no good as the belt came down upon him. It only landed once or twice before his brother came between them and sheltered him from the blows.

"Just close your eyes and pretend he isn't there," he whispered to him. "It will all be over with soon." But to Grell it seemed to go on forever. "There, you see?" His brother smiled down on him when it was over.

Grell sniffed. "I-I wet myself, Jack," he said quietly, looking ashamed.

"Then, we'll just get you cleaned up, come on."

"No!" Grell clutched at him. "Let's just go back to bed before he comes back. I don't want him to hurt you again."

"Don't be daft. You can't go to bed like that and besides, it didn't hurt a bit."

"What are you sniveling about now?" Jack asked as they bedded down.

"Dad's right. If I hadn't…Mom would still be alive and he wouldn't be drunk all the time. It's my fault." He winced as Jack's hand fell across his cheek.

"Don't listen to him. It's not your fault. And he's not our dad anymore. He's just some worthless drunk." Jack reached out and stroked the cheek he had struck. "We're all we've got now. Just you and me." They slid under the covers and held each other closely. Two identical faces looking at each other in the dark. "I'll protect you from him and one day we'll leave here. We'll go somewhere far away where he can't touch us."

"I wish we could go now."

"And starve on the streets? Go to sleep."

(x)

"Jack, what did you do?" Grell took a step back in horror. Blood. There was so much blood.

"That's the last time he'll touch you."

"I could have stuck it out."

"I couldn't. I couldn't stand it anymore."

"This is murder, Jack. They'll put you in jail. Or worse." Jack gripped him by the arms tightly.

"It was self defense, Grell, self defense. They can't do anything to us. Not if we keep our mouths shut. Understand?"

Grell nodded.

He looked out the rear windshield as they drove away. He felt a weight had been lifted off of him as he was now free of that man. With Grell's corroboration, the authorities believed the story Jack had told them and had been released into the custody of some relatives in London. Jack tugged him down into the seat beside him. "Don't look back."

"They didn't tell us you were twins," the woman introduced to them as their great Aunt Mildred said in astonishment at the sight of them when they arrived.

"Redheads," sniffed her sister, Tilly, "the both of them. They're going to be nothing but trouble, you mark my words."

"Come inside," Mildred ushered them in warmly. "Aunt Mildred will see that you get nicely fed. You two are as thin as bean poles."

For the first time since his mother's death Grell was relatively happy. Aunt Tilly was nothing but a sour old prune most of the time, but it was tempered by Mildred's motherly affection. School life could be trying at times, though he excelled in the fine arts: music, drama, and the like while his brother took more interest in sporting activities, he was part of a matched set and longed for his individuality. There was also the growing feeling that something was wrong with him, or her as was the case. While other boys his age were interested in girls, he was interested in being a girl. No, he _was_ a girl, he determined…just the outside didn't match the inside.

She grew her hair out, began to wear makeup and women's clothing (when she wasn't in school as the school regulations prevented her from wearing the girl's uniform). This did not make school life any easier, as many of the other students simply did not understand her, but at last she began to feel like she was her own person. At home, Aunt Tilly most certainly did not approve of her change, no surprise there, while Aunt Mildred seemed to have mixed feelings on the matter. Jack never said anything on the matter. And while most of her classmates preferred to avoid her, she did manage to snag a boyfriend for a short while. She didn't know how long she expected it to last, but she would have liked an explanation as to why when he suddenly ended their relationship. She must have cried about it for at least a week before Jack finally convinced her he wasn't worth it.

Graduation came and passed. By this time, though Grell loved her brother she was feeling stifled by him. She couldn't go anywhere without him following or at least knowing about it. He would say things or touch her in ways that made her feel uncomfortable. The harder she tried to pull away, the tighter he held on until finally she outright asked him to give her some space. She had dreams and she couldn't chase after them if he was always hanging off of her. It was the first time she could remember them having a fight. He screamed and yelled at her. She clamped her hands over her ears and blocked him out until he stormed off out of the house and into the night. She didn't see him for quite some time.

Dreams of course don't pay and Aunt Tilly was adamant that she find a situation or out she goes. She found employment with Grim Garden Tools and Bird Seed Association. They were a company that produced high quality garden tools an also bird seed. It was an odd thing, but the owners were evidently very fond of birds. Pigeons especially as that was on the company logo. It wasn't the best job in the world. She worked in the manufacturing department where the tools were made and she was good at what she did. Therefore, it didn't take long for her to gain some footing and climb some ladders and had some pull in the research and development department. But it was on the night that she got her situation that she met someone that changed her life.

Baroness Angelina Durless.

She didn't know her status at the time. They had just met by happenstance while Grell was having a celebratory night on the town. What started out as casual conversation turned into an odd sort of friendship. Madame Red, as she was more well known, sought out places where people weren't likely to know her to break down and practice self destruction, having lost her husband and child in a tragic accident, shortly followed by her sister and her husband's death in a house fire. Her nephew had gone missing the same night and presumed dead. Grell learned later on that Madame had been in love with the man who had married her sister. Grell knew little about that sort of love, except for what she read in books or saw in movies, but she could imagine. She also had lost loved ones.

One thing was clear, Angelina was lonely and maybe just a bit eccentric. She certainly wasn't an ordinary woman, or vso Grell thought. The wealthy often were she had been told and she could believe it after knowing Angelina for only a short time she had invited Grell to move in with her at her town house. Feeling of the same kindred spirit, Grell took leave of her aunts and accepted. Grell rarely visited the country estate, preferring to stay in town and keep house. It became a joke between them that Grell had become her butler or something.

Their relationship was indeed odd. Madame Red knew perfectly well from the start where Grell's interests lay sexually and yet one night she invited Grell to share her bed. Grell thought she might have finally lost it or had too much to drink that night but curiosity got the better of her when Angelina said, "We don't need men to gratify ourselves sexually." This led to more encounters of the same nature. Grell could not precisely define what they had together. Love? She supposed, after a fashion.

Then it happened one day that the missing nephew was found. He certainly wasn't a happy child. But Grell supposed she wouldn't be either if she had been in a similar situation. Imagine her surprise when she learned the nephew was a Phantomhive. Ciel Phantomhive, son of the Earl Vincent Phantomhive who now inherited this title from his father. He rebuilt his mansion and hired new servants. Among these was a butler, Sebastian Michaelis, who doubled as a bodyguard. He was devilishly handsome, but also very dangerous, as Grell found out. Neither the brat or his pet cared much for Grell, meaning not at all, but Grell could care less as long as they didn't interfere with her relationship with Madame Red. For a while, nothing changed, but over time, Angelina began to drift away from her. Almost in retaliation, Grell began to flirt with and tease Sebastian. She could see the writing on the wall. What she had with Angelina was coming to an end. She just didn't expect it to end the way it did.

Grell hefted the machine onto the table. "It's just a prototype, but isn't it beautiful? I designed it myself. All I need is approval from the higher ups and we can start production."

Madame Red looked at it skeptically. "A chainsaw? Since when does that count as a garden tool?"

"Are trees not plants? And outside…and often in gardens?"

"All right, all right, never mind. I'm off. I'll be back late. Don't wait up."

Grell bade her goodbye and locked up behind her. She sat in the library after dinner enjoying a book and a glass of wine when there came a knock on the front door. "Now who could that be?" She wondered. She cautiously opened the door to find Jack.

"May I come in?" he asked. She nodded and opened the door further. She shut the door behind him and turned to face him with her hands on her hips.

"Where the devil have you been? You've had Aunt Mildred driven to distraction with worry. Are you trying to send her to an early grave?"

"The old bittys are long passed their due date if you ask me. Where I've been doesn't matter. You wanted your space and I gave it to you. It looks like you've been having quite the time without me. This house is huge."

"That wasn't what I meant, Jack. Try not to touch anything."

"I missed you," he said, turning and pulling her into a hug. She slowly returned the affection. He stank of booze.

"I missed you too." He took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. She pushed him away. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm kissing you, of course."

"Well don't, you're my brother, it's disgusting."

"I'm not the one who chases after all sorts of men trying to seduce them like some whore," Jack responded angrily, grabbing hold of her again. "Those faggots don't give a shit about you. But I do. I do." He stroked her cheek affectionately, but his grip on her arm remained tight. "We belong to each other. Don't you see? After all we've been through together…We don't need anyone else, just us."

"You're hurting me, let go." She struggled to free herself from his grasp. His grip tightened and she began to feel like that little boy again. Small and afraid, like a mouse and wanting nothing more than to scurry away. That feeling was soon quashed and she did the first thing that popped into her mind. Raising her foot, she brought the heel down onto his foot then brought her knee up to his gut and slipped free from his grip as he doubled over. He recovered quickly and grabbed her from behind as she tried to flee.

"Ungrateful bitch!" he screamed as her head hit the floor. He rolled her over, straddling her slender form. She stiffened, squeezing her eyes shut in preparation for the pain that was coming, but it didn't. Jack lay on top of her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "Oh, God," he sobbed. "What am I doing? Grell I'm so sorry. I don't know what's come over me."

Grell took a moment to calm down before answering, "You're drunk, that's what. Now, get off of me." She slid out from under him and stood up. "We have some spare bedrooms," she directed up the stairs. "You can crash in one if you need to before you leave. Don't break anything." She followed a short time later, changing into some lingerie and lounging provocatively on Madame's bed to wait for her."

"I thought you could use a stress reliever," Grell said when she finally came home.

"Oh, honestly," Madame replied and began undoing her dress.

"Want some help?"

"Very well. Keep it down tonight, all right? My nephew and his butler are staying here tonight."

"Yes ma-am."

Grell slowly woke to a buzzing in the room, a loud buzzing. She slipped on her glasses and looked in the direction it came from only to be splattered with warm wet liquid. She wiped some off her face with her fingers as she switched on the bedside lamp. Blood? Angelina lay beside her, her eyes opened wide in shock, the chainsaw prototype Grell had created and brought home was thrust into her. Jack stood next to the bed beside her holding the chainsaw with a cold look in his eyes.

"She didn't even scream. I'm kind of disappointed. She bleeds like any other woman. She isn't worthy of touching you."

"J-Jack…how could you?" Grell managed to choke out. What happened next was a blur. She later vaguely recalled the sound of gunshots and shouts, the boy and his butler having come into the room, then an indeterminable amount of time later, sirens.

"Murder?" she panicked sitting cuffed to a table in a small square room at police station. "But I didn't! It was Jack! You saw him!"

"Of course," smirked the Phantomhive boy. "You're a perverted freak who has no place in our world. It was your revolting involvement with my aunt that got her killed."

"You're going to have me take the rap for something I didn't do?"

"It's only a matter of time before we catch up to your brother and he'll get what is owed him."

"What harm have I ever done to you? I loved your aunt and she loved me."

"Who could ever love someone like you?"

Had she not been cuffed, she would have sat back and crossed her arms as she fixed him with a glare. "Surely you didn't come here to gloat and to insult me, seeing how I'm so disgusting to you. What do you want brat?"

"As amusing as it would be to leave you here to rot, I've thought of something better. If you stay here, you won't learn to not become involved with your betters. You might be persuaded to forget about your brother, if you accept my offer."

Finally freed of the charges against her, she found herself with no home, no job, and no friends. Her aunts had been getting on in age and Aunt Mildred had passed while she was in prison. Grell suspected it was the shock and the grief of recent events that had caused it. Her passing meant that Aunt Tilly would have nothing more to do with her and turned her out of the house. Grim Garden Tools and Bird Seed Association would not be associated with someone with such negative publicity that could possibly cast a shadow on the company. She had taken the deal, but to what end? With no job, she had no possible way of paying off the brat. With her new reputation smattered over the papers, she was having no luck finding a new job. All she had now were the clothes on her back, including the long red frock coat left to her by Angelina, which she was thankful for, but it would not keep out the cold of the oncoming winter.

Wrapping her coat tightly around her, she shivered on the street corner not knowing what to do. She was cold and hungry, feeling every bit small and insignificant as the Earl wanted her to. What she wouldn't do for a bit of warmth and a scrap of food right now. She had just resigned herself to another cold, hungry night on the streets when a yellow sports car pulled up alongside her. A tinted window rolled down and a blond and black haired young man leaned into view. "Hiya toots. Are ya in need of some company tonight? Ya look mighty lonely standin' there all by y'self."

"N-not to m-mention cold," she smiling wryly.

"Well get in and I'll take ya someplace were we can get ya warmed up." He unlocked the doors and reached over to open the passenger door from inside. Grell got in, putting her hand over the vents to warm them. "How much?" he asked as they turned down a street.

"Excuse me?"

"I wanna know how much tonight is gonna run me. Is it the usual rates?" She looked confused for a moment before realizing and anger began to boil inside her. He thought she was a prostitute! How dare he! She opened her mouth to protest when she realized it would me going back out into the cold.

"The usual rates," she finally said, wondering what the usual rates were. She couldn't believe what she was doing, trading her body for a warm bed and a few bucks in her pocket to buy a meal. The rest she'd save for the brat. At least he wasn't bad looking, even if he wasn't her type.

"Alrighty," he said as he pulled into a parking space outside an apartment building and turned off the engine. "Here we are."

" _Here_?" she asked, looking up at the building.

"Don't worry, I got the money to pay ya. I just like expensive toys is all, so I've made a few sacrifices. And it's not really as bad as it looks." He led her up a staircase to the third floor. She frowned at the thought being considered a 'toy'. Inside the front stoop sat a shining red lawnmower with a gold symbol on the front.

"May I ask why you have one of those when you don't have a lawn?"

"Eh, it was an impulse buy. It was so flashy and shiny and don't you go dissin' the lawnmower babe. It's a rare model. It was discontinued on account of the new guy they put in charge thought it was too over the top, can ya believe that?" She had no answer, noticing the all too familiar company logo printed on the push-bar. Shrugging out of her coat, she draped it over the mower.

"Well, shall we get down to business?" she inquired.

"Sure thing, babe. If that's what ya want."

He pushed her down gently onto the bed. His hands wandered up and down her sides before snaking up underneath the fabric of her skirt as his tongue explored her mouth. She moaned and bucked up into his touch where his hand was met with an unexpected surprise.

"Holt shit! Fuck!" he shouted, falling backwards off the bed onto his backside and scooting away from Grell. 'You're a- a-"

"Don't say it!" She screamed, moving to an upright position. "Don't say it," she said softer, wrapping her arms around her middle. "I'm not…"

"Okay, okay you're not, geez…Fuck!…Oh my God! I almost…with a…with ya."

"I know I'm a freak," she snapped, getting off the bed. "And I'm not a prostitute. I only went along with it because I was desperate. Not that you'd understand." She headed towards the door.

"Wait, hold on a second." He stood and grabbed her wrist. "I never said ya were a freak. Some of my best friends are queer. I just don't swing that way myself and I totally thought ya were some hot chick, so good ya for that. I'm usually good at spottin' the difference. And I know what it's like to be desperate. Do ya have a place to stay tonight?" She shook her head slowly. Her stomach also chose that moment to make its emptiness known. Ronald chuckled and led her to the kitchen. "You can tell me all about it over dinner. I'm afraid I ain't got much. Least not anything fancy. Expensive toys affect the food budget too and I tend to eat out a lot so you'll have to make do with instant noodles."

She could see him trying to hide his snorts and giggles as she tried to maintain proper manners as she slurped her noodles, doing her best to not just gobble them down. "So what are ya going to do now?" he asked after she had told him her story.

"Isn't it quite obvious I _don'_ t know what to do? My name was in all the papers. No one will hire me. I'm ruined! I'm a disgraced woman." She dramatically cast her top half onto the table, burying her face in her arms.

"Um, yeah," Ronald Knox, as he had introduced himself, rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his neck and thought for a moment. "Can ya dance?"

"Pardon?"

"Ya certainly got the looks. If ya got the talent, I might be able to get ya a job. It may not be the sort ya had in mind, but it'll pay and certainly better than selling y'self to random creeps on the street."

"Yourself included?"

"Hah!" he laughed, slightly embarrassed.

 _She could not move, having used what strength she had left to crawl off the road and watch her house burn as she slowly lost consciousness. She had put up a fight, leaving quite a few marks on him, but he had won in the end._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 _Rosalind borrowed with permission._

He waited…and waited…waited, but it became clear she was not coming. He tried calling her, but got no answer. If she had changed her mind, she should have let him know instead of letting him make a fool of himself, standing out there like an idiot. He would be sure to reprimand her first thing Monday morning.

Monday came, but she did not. The letter sat un-typed on her desk in her notepad. Tuesday was also a 'no show'. Her phone still went straight to voicemail when he called. He had half a mind to look up her address in her file and go find her. He also thought about calling Eric to contact her brother in order to find her. He had not spoken to Eric since their little tiff at the café.

He worked through the day as best he could without her and was just getting ready to go home when an unhappy Ronald Knox came into his office. "All right, where is he?"

"Where is who, Mr. Knox?" He hoped he had gotten the name right.

"Grell Sutcliff. He's been missing since Friday."

"And how would I know where to find him?" he inquired with an adjustment of his glasses.

"Because he works for ya, dammit! God only knows why with the shit ya said at the coffee shop."

"William's brows furrowed. "He most certainly does not. The only Sutcliff that works here is his sister, Jacqueline, whom has also been missing since Friday."

A quizzical look crossed Ronald's face. "Grell doesn't have a sister. He quit his job at the nightclub to impress some guy by getting a 'respectable job'," he made the air quotes with his fingers, "and ended getting a job here. I waited outside while ya interviewed him. Though now that I think about it, ya probably wouldn't have hired him if he gave ya his real name."

William was beside himself. He didn't know who he was more angry with, Sutcliff for his deceit or himself for being deceived. His confusion towards 'miss' Sutcliff now made sense to him. She, he, had claimed to be an 'actress' and was quite obviously a good one. It was a wonder Grell hadn't greater pursued that career. "Have you tried his place of residence?" he asked after a moment of contemplation. "Or filed a missing persons report?"

Ronald blinked. "I hadn't thought of that…but I did go by his place. There's nothing left, nothing but ash and cinders. Someone's burnt it down."

"Burned it down?" William echoed. Not that he thought it had been fit to live in in the first place, but the information still surprised him. He left the office, his briefcase quite forgotten as he strode to his vehicle, Knox close at his heels. He in his vehicle and Knox in his own, they drove to where the redhead's house once stood. All the way, William tried to sort out the emotions he had been feeling since Knox's news. In particular, the concern he felt. Fear, that some harm had befallen her. Him. Her. He shook his head. He was all mixed up.

They pulled up to where the house once stood. Knox was right. It had been burnt down. Nothing but burnt timbers, blackened by fire remained and not a soul in sight. Ronald stared at the charred remains, hands stuffed in his pockets. The mailbox stood on their end of the walk untouched by the fire. William opened the box and checked the contents. The mail had not been touched for several days. He shut the box and returned to his vehicle. There was nothing more to do here. "Speak to the police," he told Knox. "Inform me when you find my employee." He drove off before Knox could answer.

 _'He quit his job at the nightclub to impress some guy by getting a "respectable" job.'_ William's mind kept going back to Knox's words. Who was this guy Knox had mentioned and why did he care so much if his attraction to Sutcliff was merely lust? He did have a reputation to uphold and what would the people say, the tabloids, the newspapers, if he got involved with a stripper. A male stripper. His parents would be mortified. Grell was hardly the sort his parents had in mind to marry. If it was just lust, why did he care so much?

"William, dear, you are ignoring our guests," his mother interrupted his deep thinking in the pigeon aviary where he sat feeding and petting his favorite of the flock whom he called Rosalind. "And where is that fiancée of yours? I was so forward to getting to know her this evening and introducing her to your father and our friends."

"She's not my fiancée," William said somberly.

" _What_?"

"She said that to protect my reputation." Rosalind pecked at the birdseed in his hand. "In fact, she's not even a she. His name is Grell Sutcliff. I apologize for any trouble the wretch has caused. He had me fooled as well."

" _Grell_ Sutcliff!" she exclaimed. "Not that fellow involved with the murder of that Barnette woman all those years ago?"

 _"So that's where I know him from."_ William faintly remembered him now from years ago. More the name than the face as he didn't recall ever actually meeting him, but he remembered his quick rise in the manufacturing department followed by the murder of the woman he was involved with. "It looks that way," he said absently, "but he's gone now."

"Well thank heaven for that. I can't imagine what he was trying to do, dressed in woman's clothes, trying to seduce you. Money possibly, do you think?" His mother rambled on for a piece. William's thoughts toned her out as he petted Rosalind. It occurred to William that Grell was no longer a stripper. Grell had given it up to be with someone. Was it William himself? His thoughts went back to their kiss the previous week. More than that, had Grell not been trying to attract him ever since she, he had been hired? "William, are you even listening to me?" Her voice cut through his thoughts to grab his attention.

"I am sorry, mother. What were you saying?"

"I asked what is it that has you distracted so?"

"I think, despite everything, that I love him."

"You can't be serious! A _man,_ William? And not just any man, but a murderer!"

"As I recall, he was never convicted."

"What difference does it make? He still did prison time. Oh, I need to sit down," she said dramatically and dropped onto the bench beside William fanning herself. "And this still doesn't change the fact that he's a man, or that you are telling me you are in love with him. Balderdash, William, simply balderdash!"

"I do not care."

"William, you don't know what you are saying! If you continue this lifestyle, I wouldn't be surprised if your father disowned you."

"So be it." He stood and retrieved a travel cage. Rosalind was placed inside. "I shall be taking Rosalind with me. If father wishes, I shall put my resignation in, in the morning."

"William, where are you going?"

"To go look for him." He bid his mother goodbye and left. He placed Rosalind in the back seat of the car and drove off. His mobile rang as he pulled out of the driveway. "Spears."

" _He, uh, boss,_ " Eric greeted hesitantly. " _Ronald wanted me to call ya. Said ya wanted to know if he found out where Grell's been._ "

"Is he well? Where is he?"

" _He's in the hospital. He's been beat up pretty bad._ "

William did his best to keep his emotions out of the conversation. "Thank you," he said, hoping the crack in his voice wasn't obvious. He hung up the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat before Eric had a chance to say anything else, if he wanted to. Then he realized he had failed to ask Slingby which hospital or even room number where Grell could be found. However, he was most likely at the one closest to his former residence, so William would start there.

"Really, Al, I'm fine. Go to work." The brunet looked apprehensively at Grell, clutching one of her hands in his own. Some of the bandages had been removed, but Alan knew there were several more he couldn't see under the hospital gown. Then there was the bruising, even more jarring then seeing his best friend all bandaged up. The massive bruise on her face was perhaps the most awful one to Alan, especially knowing how Grell cared about her face.

"What if whoever did this comes back to finish the job?"

"Ha!" scoffed Grell. "Sweetie, you'd be like the lamb at the slaughter. You have the personality of a cotton ball. Now get your scrawny ass to work. I need to get some sleep."

"But,"

"None of that. Just go."

"Grell..."

Grell beat her fists on the mattress, having lost her patience. "Damn it, Al, leave me alone!" she shouted angrily. "I don't need your mothering and I certainly don't want your pity, now get out of here…You can visit me tomorrow." Alan left somewhat begrudgingly. The kid meant well, but Grell hated for him, or anyone to see him like this. Her ass had been handed to her on a platter. Her face was a ghastly sight and she had no makeup to try to cover the bruises that adorned it. She hoped none of the injuries she received would scar.

Grell yawned. She really did need to sleep. Mindful of her sore ribs, she shifted to a more comfortable position and drifted off to sleep. "Dammit, Al," she said groggily as she woke a few hours later to the sensation of someone holding her hand. "I told you I- Will!" She started and woke fully when she saw who it was. Grell's started panicking in her mind. Why was he here? Did he know of her deception?

He seemed to be deep in thought, but as soon as she woke he released her hand and looked somewhat guilty as if he wasn't supposed to be holding her hand and had just been caught doing just that. "Eric called…I-um…" he was nervous and wasn't sure how to proceed.

 _"Perhaps William doesn't know anything,_ " thought Grell. _'Whatever the case, I better play it safe.'_ It had been fun, though some small part of her regretted the whole ordeal.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Could be worse, I guess," she answered, averting her eyes to the coverlet. "I could be dead."

"What happened?"

"Nothing I can't recover from. I'm sorry about our dinner date. We can reschedule if you like once I'm released from the hospital, which should be any day now."

"I know, Grell. You don't need to keep this farce up any longer. Mr. Knox came to the office looking for you where he informed me that you don't have a sister."

' _Loud mouthed brat._ '

"You mentioned in your interview that you had an interest in acting and may I congratulate you on a most credible performance."

His emotions were hard for her to read. She had been made out. What did this mean for them? Could she still salvage her plan? Did she even want to? "You must be furious with me."

"I was and I still am perhaps a little angry…" He grew silent.

Grell ventured cautiously. "Do I still have a job?"

William cleared his throat and shifted a little bit in his seat. "We shall see," he answered. 'I _may not have a job,_ ' he thought to himself. "Do you have a place to stay when you are released?"

She hadn't thought about that. "I'm sure Andrei wouldn't be opposed to the idea of me staying with him for awhile." He had fortunately moved out a few weeks before the fire, taking Vladimir with him. "Ronnie also would probably let me stay. For a night or two at least. I wouldn't to stay there too long and get in the way of his date nights. It's only a matter of time before Alan offers his flat to me, but his place is so small. It's not made for much more than one person. Though if he's often away at Eric's, it won't be too much of a problem…"

"My flat is plenty large enough for two," William uttered impulsively. Grell looked up at him questioningly. "Y-you could be safe from whomever did this to you."

"There's no place safe from him," she mumbled, trying to ignore the flutter of her heart at his invitation.

"Pardon?"

"I will consider it," she said more clearly. Silence fell over the two. Grell switched back and forth between fiddling with her hair and fiddling with the covers while William sat there like a rock, staring at some fixed point in front of him, though he was secretly watching Grell. Her green eyes, the light dusting of freckles across her nose, even without her makeup, she was beautiful, if not more so because, in part, he was seeing the real her. She looked more tangible with the brown hair and less ethereal. He wondered which was her real hair color.

"May I ask you something?" he said breaking the silence. She paused toying with a lock of her hair to look at him and nodded. "At the club that night, there was a man they call 'Undertaker'. He inquired after your services but was turned down by the owner. Why?" Not that it really mattered, but he was curious and it gave them something to talk about. There wasn't much he knew about the man, but he did know he was powerful and willing to pay. William didn't think Grell was really in a position to turn him down judging by the state of her residence. Former residence.

"Oh, _him_ ," Grell snorted derisively. "I'm mad at him, that's why. Pops gave me leave to pick my clients. Undertaker has paid for my services on many occasions. He's quite a passionate lover. You may not believe me, but under those bangs, he's quite a hottie." William felt a pang of jealousy as she talked on about the mysterious silver haired man, but he also grew the more curious as to why she would reject him as a client if he had been such a good customer. "Well, anyway, the last time I accepted his money, he got a little rough during our session. He called me his ' _doll_ '. We fought and had rough, passionate sex, but he got _too_ rough and my face got injured. My _face_! I couldn't take any clients until it healed. Being a hottie does not exempt those who incur my wrath, especially when my face is involved."

"I'll keep that in mind."

They chatted intermittently for a while. Grell's resolve to break his heart gradually receded until it no longer existed. She felt a warmth toward him growing in her. A certain fondness, that was all, she told herself. She didn't want to him to leave her alone. Yes, she would go stay with him. At least for a time, that is.

 _My lovely readers, I have been employed. Moving shelves in the middle of the night at Wal-mart, doesn't that sound exciting?! It is only temporary employment for now, but may become part time work. As such, this is likely to further impact my writing when I start. It'll just mean that stories may take longer to come out/get updated. Hopefully, I can get on a place closer to home and not on night shift, however, I'm taking what I can get at the moment. Employment is hard to find where I live and have been out of work now for some time and with my daughter to take care of, you understand, I hope. So this isn't goodbye, this is a 'be patient, I'll update when I can.'_


	7. Chapter 7

_Releasing the next chapter a little sooner than I wanted to. I'm starting work tonight and didn't want to forget. Another thing, based on some reviews I got it sounded unclear who Jack is. Yes in the story he is Grell's identical twin brother, however he is also a play on 'Jack the Ripper' whom Grell was half of. Think of it like this, I took Grell and split him in two. ^.^_

She stood frozen in the doorway for a moment. Grell had almost forgotten what rich looked like, even if it was furnished to suit William. Monochrome colors for the most part, though there was a touch of blue here and there. Not cluttered with personal belongings, the furniture was plain and simple, though clearly high priced. Everything was neat and proper, not a speck of dust in sight.

William shut the door and locked it behind them, placing his keys in a bowl made of polished dark wood on a stand by the door. He then went about his evening routine, albeit somewhat awkwardly. Grell guessed he wasn't used to having houseguests. Finding the living room was easy enough and she took a seat on the end of the sofa, kicking her heels off and tucking her legs up underneath her.

She felt indebted to William. He had invited her to stay here and had not asked for any sort of remuneration, at least not yet. Grell didn't have much money and nothing to give him if he did ask. Well, she had one thing. He had already purchased it in fact, but she had never given him what he had paid for. She could give him his 'merchandise' and more in lieu of payment. She didn't bother to consider that she was about to do this for any reason. After this night, she would put her previous way of life behind her completely and that would be the end of it. Then perhaps they could fuck just for the fun of it. They could even play 'house' for a time.

Getting up from the couch, she looked about the flat for William and found him in his bedroom unbuttoning his dress shirt. William had been preparing to get in the shower when Grell closed in and with nimble fingers, started working on the buttons as well. "Sutcliff, what-" She tipped up and caught him in a kiss. The fabric was slipped from his shoulders with ease as William kissed back and began undoing her blouse. Her intentions had quickly made themselves clear in the way she kissed him and the way she was kissing him was driving him crazy.

He hoisted her up and laid her on the bed and crawled upon it to lie above her, then removed the rest of her clothing. Grell helped him slide out of his trousers and underpants, exchanging kisses. William brushed against her and she moaned. It sounded sweeter to him than he could have imagined. She rubbed against him in return.

He stopped. He had never done this before, not with someone who was physically male. The last time had been quite some time ago, before attending university was it? and had no idea what to do next. Grell guessed as much by the expression on his face and took his hand in hers. She directed his fingers to her mouth. "Here, I'll guide you," she said sweetly and took them into his mouth, coating them with a generous amount of saliva. The suggestive way she went about it was incredibly arousing, imagining where else her tongue could be used in such a manner. When she was satisfied with the amount of saliva on them, she brought his hand down to her anus and instructed him on what to do next.

"Like this?" he asked, nervous and wanting to make sure he was doing it correctly.

"Yes…mmhnn…has anyone told you; you are quite good with your hands."

"All those violin lessons, I suppose," he jested. She laughed a little.

"Now the second one," she instructed when she felt ready for it and finally the third. When she was fully stretched, she pushed him down onto his back and straddled him, applying more saliva to his member before sinking down slowly onto it with a moan. Using all her skill and experience, she gave the best experience she had ever given to a man, loving every little moan and gasp she elicited from him. Focusing solely on his need, she neglected her own.

He felt so good inside her. It wasn't going to take much more before he came. William was so distracted by the sensations Grell was stimulating, enchanted by the movements of her hips, the feel and smell of her skin, the softness of her hair. Everything.

He gripped her hips tightly and thrust up into her. His muscles tensing, he came hard. Grell smiled satisfactorily at a job well done as his body relaxed. William brought her down for a kiss, rolling them to lie side by side, pulling her close, it was then that felt her neglected member and guiltily took it in his hand. "My apologies," he whispered in her ear.

"William, that isn't…" Her services rendered, payment made. He had no obligation to see to her release, something she could take care of by herself later on.

"Come for me," he whispered, watching her face. She was already near to bursting and did with a sharp cry. He smiled. He had all but said it with his body; he might as well admit it with his voice. "I l-"

"Do you mind if I use your shower?" she asked suddenly. "I can really use one after all that."

"N-no," he answered, taken aback by the interruption. Getting up from the bed, she disappeared into the bathroom, the sound of running of water shortly soon after.

The next morning he woke to find the side she had slept on was empty. For a moment, he thought she had left, but then he heard sounds coming from another part of the flat and felt relieved. After dressing, William found her in the kitchen cooking breakfast in one of his spare pajama tops. Just the top, with the sleeves rolled up out of the way.

"Good morning, darling," Grell greeted cheerfully. "I hope you don't mind. I'm not much of a cook, I'm afraid, but I can fry you up a couple of eggs. How do you want them?"

"I can't actually," he answered, checking the time, "I need to be on my way." Believing it to be a belated rebellious phase, William's father had not removed him from his position in the company on the stipulation that William no longer have Grell as his secretary.

Grell eyed his bed head look before it was combed neatly to the style in which he usually wore it. She could get used to that look. He looked younger. "I might be gone later. Just for a short spell," she added at his questioning gaze. "I can't exactly be expected to run in this all the time." She tugged at the hem of the nightshirt.

"Why not?" slipped from his lips then hastily corrected with, "I suppose not." Had she noticed? By the smile that played on her lips, he guessed that she had.

"I'm going to hit a few stores and buy some new clothes."

"Here," he said, pulling out his wallet, he took a card out and placed it on the counter. A spare key was also placed there.

"Will, I can't take your money!"

He could have bitten off his tongue at what he said next and later wondered if it was love that had made him so stupid. He had meant it as a jest, but it all came out sounding meaner than intended. "You have before."

The spatula she was holding was placed next to the stove and she scowled. "That was low, William. Really low." She hated being reminded of what she had once been forced to do for a bit of coin, especially now that she had put it behind her. Grell stormed to the bedroom, locking the door behind her.

William turned off the stove and left the apartment. He would have to apologize later. Perhaps he could buy her flowers and chocolates to help offset her temper. That's what people did right? Did she even like those sorts of things? He supposed he would find out that evening when he returned from the office.

(x)

He always enjoyed the nightlife. The silver haired gentleman, whose line of work was a mystery to everyone. Even to some of his employers. Once a mortician of great cunning and excelled in his craft, he also had ways of obtaining information about everything and everyone, particularly with things dealing with London's underground societies. He had since left preparing the dead for their big day and was currently enjoying a new line of work employed by a secret society, namely a Viscount Druitt and a Ryan Stoker, a scientist, who were interested in seeing if the dead could be reanimated. He had long pondered this himself. There were many close friends he had lost by some means or another and expected to lose the son of one said friends if he did not change the dark path his life was leading him. If he could save him somehow, he would. Those that hired him thought they had him in complete control. He loved a good laugh and was content to let them think that for now as he put their resources to his own personal goals.

The man known simply as "Undertaker" exited 'Pop's', the strip club where Grell once worked. He decided this would be his last visit to the club. It just wasn't the same since his rose had stopped working there. She was a feisty one, and he liked that, even if she couldn't stand him some days, and possibly would have thrown a fit if she ever heard him call her 'his rose'. But if she was happy with her William, then he was satisfied.

The smell of rain was in the air and the sky threatened to pour later that night. He paid the other residents of London no mind as he strolled along down the sidewalk, wondering what he should do with the rest of his night, but then he spotted a flash of red hair, red hair that could only belong to one person. But what was this? She might still be mad at him, but he was going to get to the bottom of this new development even if she scratched out his eyes for it.

Quickening his steps, he hurried to the other side of the street and caught her arm, turning her to face him. "Dearie, what on earth have you done to your lovely locks?" He touched his fingers to the tips of her shortened hair. "Did Willy put you up to this?"

His hand was batted away with a glower. "Unhand me, creep!"

Undertaker was taken aback by the deepness of her voice. It was the same voice, but not at the same time. And her clothes! So very masculine. This was not his rose. "Grell," he said, growing ever more serious. "What is going on? This is not you. Now tell me what has got into you head?" They may not see eye to eye, but he did care what happens to her.

A strange look passed over her features, and then she brightened a little. "You know Grell? Do you know where I might find him? I've been looking for him for some time. We've been separated for many years." The red head's voice grew desperate and worried, "I don't know who you are, but please help me."

"Really, Grell? You are pretending that you are your brother when you have claimed to be an only child? I am well aware of your acting prowess. I wish you would stop this silliness and talk to me, but as you wish. I'll play along for now."

"You will help me find Grell?"

"Sure, sure. I reckon you won't find her too far from William these days."

"Does this William have a last name?"

"Spears. As you very well know. Are you sure you won't talk to me?"

"Spears? As in the garden tool manufacturers?"

"The same."

"Thank you. Thank you very much, kind sir." She briefly shook his hand and disappeared into the night, leaving a concerned Undertaker to stare after her. Perhaps the act was merely a ploy to get rid of him. Whatever the case, he hoped she was okay.

(x)

"Since you fired me, I suppose I should be looking for a new job now…if anyone will hire me. I'll start tomorrow," she said as she dipped her chopsticks into the white box filled with take out Chinese.

"I shall write you a letter of recommendation. That should help," William responded, helping himself to a pot-sticker. "What sort of work are you thinking of applying for?"

"I'm sure," she answered with uncertainty. "And I suppose it will depend on who _will_ hire me."

"You mean because of your record?" _And previous work experience,_ he wanted to add but didn't as it now seemed a touchy subject. The flowers and chocolates had been well received and they had made up.

"I wasn't guilty," she said testily. That temper of hers. William was quickly finding how easily it was to set her off. "But that damned kid and those damned reporters made sure I was ruined all the same."

William wondered if she meant the Phantomhive child. She had mentioned a child before. "And that's why you…?"

"Let's change the subject. I don't want to talk about this anymore. I wonder if Ronnie knows if there are any flats open his building," she wondered aloud.

William looked at her, puzzled as to why she wanted to know that. "You do not want to stay here anymore?"

Grell set the box down and finished swallowing before answering. "Your home is quite lovely, if a bit bland in color. I hope you don't think I'm being ungrateful or anything, far from it…"

"I don't understand."

She wasn't sure she did either, but she knew she didn't deserve him. He was simply too wonderful. He was getting close, too close. Before long, he would be spouting 'I love you's' and the like. What would she do when he did? After what she had done to draw him in…it wasn't real. It couldn't be. It couldn't last. She knew she _liked_ him. That enough alone scared her. As much as she desired to belong to one man, the notion of such a close and personal relationship was terrifying. All the work she had done to turn his head, he was now beginning to turn hers. Flowers? Chocolates? Make up sex? (she really enjoyed the last one. It was better than regular sex.) Maybe it wasn't just now. Perhaps she had been slowly falling for him since day one. Why couldn't they just stay the way they had been, but with sex? "Please don't make this any harder, William. Let's keep this professional."

William's jaw clenched, his muscles visibly tensing at her words. "Having sexual relations with me is 'professional'?"

"That _is_ my job."

" _Was_ your job." William felt his heart breaking. He should have known.

"Payment for your hospitality then," she said heatedly, tossing down the egg roll she had picked up back into the box she from which she had taken it.

"So I am merely a job to you. A means to an end?"

"Oh don't make me out to be some kind of villain. We used each other."

"I buy you clothes. Provide a roof over your head, in exchange for-" He began, his voice growing cold.

"I didn't use one cent of your money. I paid for these out of my own pocket. I just said I was going to be looking for someplace else to live. You won't have to provide that roof for any longer than is necessary." Her words became clipped and biting. "If you're that worried about it, I can move out tonight. Right now even!" Her chopsticks were thrown onto the coffee table and she got up. Grell headed to the bedroom and gathered her things. At least she would have _some_ possessions this time when relocating.

William followed her and stood in the doorway. "Whatever you may think, I was not using you."

"Everyone uses each other, William, that's just the way the world works. Get used to it."

"I won't," he answered. Grell scoffed at him. "I don't think you truly believe that either."

"You don't know what I believe! You know nothing about me."

"And whose fault is that?"

She sneered at him. He was right, and it irked her. Before she left, she would get one answer though. "You came to my house and started to ask me out, but then changed your mind, then changed it again. Why?"

"Is that what this is about?"

"Just answer the damn question."

William dropped his gaze, thinking about his answer. It was best they have it out now. He would get to the bottom of this. If she still wanted to leave, he would let her, that is if he still wanted her there. "I meant what I said then. I _could_ not stop thinking about you. I began to bare my soul to you, but then…then I began to question my judgment, however I still could not get you off my mind. You are so unlike any creature I have ever encountered before…" William looked back up at her and his eyes hardened. Cold and distant they had become. "However, it appears I was correct to question myself and I stand by what I said to your friends at the café. You weren't there to hear it, but I am sure they got the message to you."

"They didn't have to tell me. I heard every word. And you were right! You've known all this time. I don't see why it shocks you so that I am the way I am."

"You heartless creature. It is because you brought color into my dull grey existence. My heart was as cold as ice before you warmed it with your fire. I suppose 'love' really is just a profession to you. You want to know why I invited you to live with me? It wasn't for my personal pleasure, or gain. It wasn't to use you, to have sex with you. It was because I loved you and cared about you. I was under the impression that you felt the same, but it seems now that I was mistaken. A man does have to pay you to spend time with him."

"Say it plainly, to my face!" she dared.

"Whore." He said it firmly with no emotion.

They stared each other down until William commanded in a low voice, "Get out."

"I am." Her things were gathered up in her arms, holding her shoes in one hand she made her way to the front door. William had stepped out of her way by going onto the balcony. He had said it, she realized. She hated herself, what she had just done. He truly had loved her, but it was too late to do anything about it. A right mess of things she had made. Grell tried to tell herself it was for the best. She destroyed everything she touched. How many lived ended or hearts broken because if her? She had lost count a long time ago.

She would get over this almost romance, she told herself as she pressed the button for the Lobby as hard as she could. Putting her shoes on, she left the lift as soon as the doors opened and exited the building just as quick as she could. Grell looked back only once, up the storied building to William's apartment. He was there watching her from the balcony. As soon as she had looked at him, he turned and went back inside, shutting the drapes. "Farewell, my prince," she whispered. "If only this parting were sweet and not just sorrow." She had set out to break his heart and she had. What she hadn't counted on was breaking hers in the process.

"Grell?" A familiar voice called to her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _My heart goes out to Underli-, Abberline, excuse me, in this chapter. Poor man._ _I've realized I've mostly been writing dialogue heavy scenes, sorry about that. I shall try to remedy this in future chapters. William switching pronouns when speaking about Grell is intentional._ _References and lines from Ciel in Wonderland OVA...I_ ' _m apologize for how cracky this chapter gets._

 _ **WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! (**_ _Implied incest)_

The wallpaper was the same, but time had faded it to an almost unrecognizable color and it was peeling in several places. The smell of stale 'old lady' perfume that Aunt Tilly had always worn clung to the air in the room. "Welcome home," she was greeted upon awaking. "It's been a long time. Did you miss me?" Jack's face appeared as he leaned over her and kissed her cheek.

"I thought you were dead," she answered.

"You sound disappointed, but no, I'm not. However, you may be pleased to find that Aunt Tilly finally kicked the bucket. A few years ago, in fact. She left us the house and now you can move back in."

"You mean she left _you_ the house. As I recall, she turned me out and wanted nothing more to do with me after you left me to take the fall for what you did."

"And I'm sorry for that. I was crazy with jealousy. And then that kid started shooting at me…would you rather that they had caught me?" Grell didn't answer. She no longer felt the love and care for her brother that she once had. She did wish that he had been caught. She wished that she had never let him stay the night. She wished a good many things. "Dear old Auntie took some convincing to let me stay and a lot of hard work to get back into her good graces. All so we could have a home together, you and I. Personally I think the old bat was getting lonely."

"Untie me." It hadn't taken long for Grell to realize she had been tied to the bed when she had woken.

"I can't," Jack said mournfully. "If I do, my little Cheshire cat will disappear on me again." He stroked her cheek. "And I don't want that to happen again."

"I won't run away," she promised in a calm, cool voice. Jack looked at her dubiously. "I have nowhere else to go." She turned her head to the side. Sadness welled up inside her as the realization hit and she was determined not to cry. As long as Jack was around, she didn't have anywhere else to go. Her friends were to be kept safe from him.

"Yes," Jack said thoughtfully then began to untie her. "Dear William kicked you out, didn't he?"

"How do you know about Will?" she asked in surprise, remembering that Jack had found her just as she was leaving William's apartment.

"I had the pleasure of running into one of your acquaintances. He mistook me for you and was mighty concerned that you had 'done to your lovely locks'. Speaking of which, we'll have to fix this." He fingered a lock of her still brown-dyed hair. "Such an ugly boring color, don't you think? He was a creepy old codger who couldn't keep his hands to himself."

There was only one person Grell could think of who fit that description. Grell sat up and positioned herself on the edge of the lumpy worn out mattress. ' _What if I had not left when I did?'_ she thought to herself. ' _Would William have met the same fate as Madame Red?'_ "The breakup was mutual," she said aloud. "I won't be seeing him again, so there's no need to hurt him."

"What's with that tone of voice? I've only ever tried to protect you. We've been over this before."

"Yes, I know…Just the same, you will not touch him. He did not hurt me and you are right, Jack. We do belong together. I see that now."

Jack joined her on the edge of the bed and put his arm around her. "Very well." He crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head to look at him. "May I have a kiss?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. She would protect at least one person she cared for, even if it meant not ever seeing him again. He didn't want to see her again anyhow. She had made sure of that.

(x)

He supposed it was inevitable that he be paid a visit by one of Grell's friends. He expected Grell to go running to them with some dramatic story that painted him the villain and Grell the distressed damsel. Then they would be enraged and come barging into his office and causing a ruckus.

Instead, and much against his expectations, he received a gentle knock on the door and the entry of the mild mannered brunet, Alan Humphries. "I know you must be terribly busy, but if I could, I would speak to you…about Grell?"

"Sutcliff and I are no longer together. We have not been for sometime."

"Oh?" Worry filled Alan's voice as he timidly took a seat across from William.

"You did not know this?"

"N-no…he never said-"

"I do not know where he is or have any care to contact him. If you have any concerns about Sutcliff, I suggest you speak to him yourself. What is it?" William noticed the look of concern grow even deeper on Alan's face.

"We've not seen Grell for some time. He would hardly pick up his mobile when we give it a ring and when he does it is only to day he cannot speak right now, or something along those lines. Now he doesn't answer it at all."

As much as he claimed disinterest, William was slightly concerned by this news. "As I said before, I'm afraid I am of no help to you, Mr. Humphries. Good day to you."

Alan hesitated before getting up and going to the door. Pausing, he turned and asked, "Why did you two break up? Grell seemed so happy."

"Appearances can be deceiving. He informed me that he was merely using me until he found someplace else to live."

"If you believe so strongly that appearances can be deceiving, why did you believe him? Do not forget that Grell is quite an actress." Before another word could be said, Alan left William to his work.

(x)

She felt nothing, except in the spare moments when he left her alone. Then she would sit in her favorite nook as a child, stare out the window, and think of her friends, but most of all, she thought of William. It was then she felt longing and loneliness. It pained her to ignore the messages from her friends, but it would have pained her more if Jack hurt them. Therefore, she eventually turned it off and stashed it away.

The evening sun shone through the window, lighting the room in its orange glow. She fantasized that she was a maiden locked away in her tower by an evil villain. Her prince William was on his way to rescue her, to sweep her up into his arms and carry her away to live happily ever after. It was a pleasant fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless. William wasn't coming and the doors were unlocked.

Grell still felt trapped, trapped between fear of Jack and her love for William. Yes, she was certain now that she loved him and cursed her fear. She had let her fear of letting William get too close and now she was allowing her fear to keep her from running to him and apologizing for all the nasty things she had said. The lies she had told. Would he take her back if she did?

"Ah there you are, my darling." Jack entered the room and her fantasy ended. "I've been wondering where you were hiding. What is on your mind that distracts you so?"

"Oh, nothing," she smiled. She was determined to appear happy for Jack. Perhaps one the greatest roles she would ever play. "Just the evening sun in this room is so beautiful, don't you think?"

"Hm, not as beautiful as the room's occupant. Come, it's time for bed."

"A few more minutes?" She pleaded anything to delay it.

He looked displeased, but he conceded. "A _few_ more minutes."

(x)

William didn't want to be here, but it was good for the company. "William, do relax, will you? Smile," his mother instructed as she passed him to speak to another guest at the tea party they had been invited to attend. His mother and father were thrilled to hear of his break up and it seemed the only thing they could talk of. To make matters worse, the tea party was also a costume party. His mother had chosen his costume: a brown suit with a green necktie and a brown waistcoat with white stripes that crossed each other. Brown rabbit ears that flopped over were placed on his head. "Not a rabbit," his mother had said, but a hare. The March Hare, as the party's theme was 'Wonderland'. Though happy, his mother was a little disappointed that the break up meant that William would not be bringing Grell. She had an outfit all picked out for William's…erm…boyfriend.

William was not happy to be there. He was not happy period. He would much rather be holed up in his office and work away the hours as he had been doing since Grell had left. His only comfort was Rosalind, but he could not bring her to the party. Too many people made her nervous.

His host had invited many people. There was even an Indian prince. William had caught sight of him once or twice, he and his servant. William was having trouble making out what they were supposed to be from Lewis Carol's novel. This was in part because they had imbued their costumes with emblems from their native country. The Phantomhive and the Midfords were rumored to be there, but William had yet to lay eyes on them. Eventually, William spotted the young Earl with his fiancée, Elizabeth Midford. Ciel Phantomhive had refused to dress up in some ridiculous outfit, but Elizabeth had chosen to dress as a mouse. His butler, who stood nearby, was sporting a pair of white rabbit ears. Also standing near the Earl was a Chinese man, Lau as a caterpillar and his sister? as a mushroom. This was the first time William actually ever met the Earl and his odd group of friends. Though he had seen him at a distance from time to time. Though he did not need to meet them up close to know that they are not the sort of people he wished to be associated with, no matter what the press said.

The Viscount Druitt, a ridiculous individual, was spotted dressed as a mock turtle. All sorts of characters and creatures from the novel were in attendance. Each party guest moved about, chatting to one another, except William who mostly stayed in one area and kept to himself for the most part. Still, William found himself standing near the Phantomhive butler as the day wore on. "Greetings," the butler said cheerfully.

"Hello," William grunted back. He could already tell he did not like the man.

"I have often seen you about in town, Suit."

"Likewise, Black."

"Forgive me, but if you are also to be the White Rabbit, should not your ears then be white? Those ears suit yo by the way."

"Yes. _If_ I was the White Rabbit. I happen to be I am a member of the proud Hare race. Are all as poorly educated as you these days?"

"Rabbit or hare, what is the difference?"

"I'll thank you not to lump me-"

"Sebastian!" The young lord called from across the lawn, interrupting William's protestation.

"Pardon me," Sebastian said with a slight bow. "My master calls." Everyone spoke in adoration about the Phantomhive, however, William had yet to see anything special about him.

Left to himself once more, he turned his attention to his cup of tea, which was almost upset when an arm was slung about his shoulders in a one armed hug. "Willy-boy! So nice to see you again. It's been awhile." William adjusted his glasses. This time they were actually askew from the jostle of the hug Undertaker had given him. He shot a glare at Undertaker but said nothing for the moment. Undertaker was dressed as the Mad Hatter. A sleepy Ronald Knox was with him as the dormouse. At William's questioning glance, Undertaker said, "The young thing loves parties and I thought this might be one he'd enjoy, but the poor thing is so sleepy."

"I need coffee," murmured the young blond.

"This is a _tea_ party, Mr. Knox, not a coffee shop," responded William. William looked at them curiously. "Are you two…?"

"Oh, God no," answered Ronald while taking a cup of tea from Undertaker and downing it. "I have a girlfriend. Like the old coot said, I'm just here for the party."

"Why don't you go have a seat over there, take a nap perhaps," Undertaker suggested to Ronald. "I want to have a few words with Willy here."

Ronald shook his head. "If this is about Grell, no way. Oh don't be so dumbfounded, I know y'er sweet on him and I've been just as worried as you."

"If this is about him," said William. "You can save your breath."

"I just want to know if you had anything to do with Rose's new look." Undertaker fiddled with the hat on his head as he spoke. "Now I know how impetuous and impulsive she can be, but she was acting so strangely. She pretended she didn't even know me, asking me if I could help her find Grell."

At this, Ronald raised his eyebrows. "That is odd. What do you mean by 'new look'?"

"She had chopped off her hair and-"

"Uh-uh, no way," interrupted Ronald. "Grell would never do that. Once I was helping her curl her hair before a show and accidentally singed it. Just a tiny bit and," Ronald whistled, "She nearly had my head for it. She went on about how she had worked hard to grow it out and the years involved. You know, all the drama…what else, old man?"

"She was dressed like a man."

" _What?!_ " exclaimed Ronald not believing his ears.

"May I remind both of you that Sutcliff is in fact a man?" said William, but he was ignored.

"When was this?" asked Ronald.

"Close on to six weeks ago now, I think," answered Undertaker.

"That cannot be right," said William. "I last saw Grell short on five weeks ago walking out my door with his hair as long as ever and still under the pretense that he is a woman."

"Well, now, this _is_ puzzling."

"Hang on," said Ronald, "If you say you saw him six weeks ago with short hair and you saw him five weeks ago with _long_ hair…" Ronald gestured between Undertaker and William. "Hair just doesn't… Oh," his eyes widened with the shock of realization. "You don't suppose..."

"Suppose what?" asked William.

"I wouldn't have thought of it except for trying to sort out this hairy business." Undertaker stymied a laugh. "But Grell mentioned a brother once."

"You mean there really is a brother?" asked William.

"Like I said, Grell only mentioned him once, a long time ago. We were both kind of drunk at the time, Grell more than I, so my memory is a little fuzzy."

"Get on with it, Mr. Knox."

"Grell started getting all emotional and sobbing about how if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be so in the situation she was in."

"A likely story."

"Hey, fuck you! If it wasn't for you Grell wouldn't be missing in the first place. He tried to better himself for _you_. He got put in the hospital for _you_. His house was burnt down because of _you_. Yeah the place was shit, but he loved the place. And to top it all off, _you_ threw him out."

"Grell Sutcliff left of his own accord, right before making it perfectly clear that he didn't love me, that he was only using me. I meant nothing more to him than a meal and a bed."

"And you believed him?"

"I told him everything concerning my feelings for him and he still…what else could I have done but to believe him?" Since Alan's visit, William had thought often of the last look Grell had given him and he began to wonder if Grell had been putting on an act. Though for the devil of him he could not figure out why Grell would do such a thing. One thing was for certain, he was not as over her as he would like for people, and even himself, to believe.

"I think we should investigate," said Undertaker.

"What do you suggest we do?" asked Ronald. "Should we talk to his Russian friend?"

"I have an associate, an acquaintance if you will, in the police. Perhaps we should pay him a call."

"Shall we get started tomorrow then?"

"Actually, I believe he is present at this party. This way…" Undertaker led the way through the crowds of people chatting away about this and that. Ronald followed and William trailed after. Eventually, they came upon a lizard in a trench coat and a hat. "Ah! Inspector Underline," greeted Undertaker.

"Abberline!" the man corrected in an aggravated manner, causing Undertaker to chuckle a little. "What can I do for you?"

"It appears one of our friends has gone missing."

"Sort of," added Ronald.

"Sort of missing," Undertaker corrected himself.

"How can someone be sort of missing?" asked Abberline flabbergasted.

"We've had some contact with him, however, currently none at all and the contact before was limited to telling us he could not speak at the moment before hanging up his phone," Ronald elaborated.

"I think it is safe to assume this person is an adult. He can do as he pleases."

"But this is so unlike Grell," Ronald began to protest, but Undertaker shushed him then proceeded to pickpocket him and pull out several pound notes from Ronald's wallet. "Hey!" Ronald started to protest but at a glare from the taller man, he quieted and slumped his shoulders while sticking his hands in his pockets to express his displeasure.

Undertaker moved to stand uncomfortably close to Abberline, putting an arm around his shoulders and waved the notes under the man's nose. "Is there nothing that will change your mind?"

"Are-are you insinuating I take a bribe?! I am an honest man, sir. I am not for sale." Abberline shoved the money away from himself. "I could have you arrested for this."

"Gehehehe~" laughed Undertaker.

"Please, inspector," Ronald implored doing his best to appear humble. "Grell is one of my best friends. I'm afraid he may have gotten himself into some serious trouble. I'm worried for him."

The inspector looked long at Ronald before sighing in defeat. "Hanks!" he called.

"Yes sir!" answered a nearby walrus.

"Take note," Abberline commanded. From somewhere in his costume, the walrus made a notepad and a pencil appear and readied himself. "Now," Abberline addressed Ronald, "If you would, the name and description of your missing friend."

"Grell Sutcliff…he's…actually, I'm not sure how old he is exactly. He wouldn't ever tell me."

"'Never ask a woman her age', eh?" remarked Undertaker.

"Eh, something like that. I figure he's around thirty, he's gotta be over twenty-five anyway. Normally, he's got long red hair, but he recently dyed it brown. He's nice and thin, and about yea high." Ronald used his hand to measure about how tall Grell stood. "Green eyes. Easily mistaken for a woman…I think that's all."

"You forgot feisty. Remember, she's got quite a temper."

Abberline looked dizzy, confused by the mix of pronouns. "You say 'he', you say 'she'. Which is it, man or woman?"

"A woman," answered Undertaker.

"A man…technically," said Ronald at the same time.

"Honestly," muttered William, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Grell Sutcliff," he said, taking over, "is physically a man. However, he claims to be a woman and commonly dresses as such."

"I see…" Abberline said thoughtfully, rubbing the facial hair on his chin, though it appeared he was still a little confused. "When did you last see your friend?"

"He was last seen," answered William, "by any of us, leaving my residence. He had been living with me at the time after his house had been burnt down by some unknown person or persons. It was a decision on both our parts that he leave."

"There's a possibility he is with his brother," Ronald added.

"Name and description?" asked the inspector warily.

"Uhm…er…well…" Ronald faltered.

"He looks identical," Undertaker came to his aid. "He speaks a little deeper. He appears to consider himself a man as he was wearing that sort of clothing. His hair is considerably shorter. I'm afraid I didn't get a name."

' _I was quite unaware that you were acquainted with my brother. We look a lot alike, you see. Even our own mother used to mix us up all the time.'_ William remembered what Grell had spoken to him during his interview when under the guise of Jacqueline. ' _In every lie there is always a grain of truth,'_ he thought to himself. ' _Jacqueline_.' He considered the name a few times before saying aloud, half in thought "Jack. I believe it we will find it to be that or something near to it. I believe also that you will find that Grell Sutcliff has a record. Now, if you will excuse me." William bowed slightly and left, having felt a headache coming on.

The ears were taken off his head and chucked into the back seat of his car. He had been seen by many and interacted with a few, having stayed for a stretch of it, his parents had no reason to complain of his leaving early. If pressed, he would tell them he had work to do. Work helped him to keep his mind off Grell. Tonight however, he did not go to the office. Instead, he drove home. Rosalind greeted him at the door by alighting on his shoulder and giving out a 'coo'. Together, they went to the garden located on the roof of the building.

There was a bit of a chill in the air, but William paid it no mind. William sighed heavily, sitting down at one of the small tables that sat amidst the flora. Rosalind hopped down onto the table and strutted around. "Rosalind, you are my closest friend. I wish you could speak. Then you could tell me what kind of fool I am. Am I a fool for letting him go, or am I a fool for letting him into my life to begin with?" Rosalind answered with a series of soft coos. "A part of me wants to believe Humphries, that it was all an act. If it was an act, it was very convincing. I thought I had succeeded in ridding myself of my feelings for him, but it seems I have not. This business of late about him missing since he left here has me worried." He took a small handful of birdseed out of his pocket and presented it to her. She pecked at the seed in his hand as he continued. "I cannot remember ever telling a lie before, however, it seems I have told several of late. I told Sutcliff's friends I do not care what happens to him, but I do." He sighed again. "What am I to do?"

"You could try to find him and make friends again." At first, William thought it was Rosalind who answered, but then he looked up and saw one of the other tenants holding a pair of clipping shears. It seemed he had been tending the garden. His face had always reminded William of a cat and he always wore a white lab coat with one of the buttons missing and, to the despair of many, socks with sandals. William thought he was a scientist or something of the sort who didn't get out much. Hardly set foot out of the apartment building, much less his apartment. Othello was his name and he greeted William, "Hullo."

"Have you been here the whole time?" asked William, a little cross that his conversation had been eavesdropped upon.

"Yeah, you really should have checked the place or sought a more private location if you didn't want anyone to overhear. May I?" Othello did not wait for an answer before seating himself across from William giving Rosalind a fright in the process and sending her fluttering to William's shoulder. "I met miss Sutcliff when she was here. She seemed like a nice person. We had a lovely little chat, about you mostly, begging your pardon. She never said as much, but I got the feeling that she cares for you deeply. I don't claim to be an expert on love, but that's the impression I got. It's a right shame she left. I was looking forward to having tea with her sometime…what were you two fighting about, if I may ask?"

"You heard that as well?"

"The two of you were kind of loud. At least, she was. So what happened between you two?"

This man wasn't much more than a stranger to William. Perhaps he didn't wish to lie anymore, or he simply desired to sort it all out and talking was the way to do so, but he found himself telling Othello what had happened "…Then I told her to get out, and she did. However, the look on her face when she looked back…I do not know what to make of it."

"If you want to know, why don't you ask her? Oh, but perhaps you are the proud and stubborn sort and believe that she should come crawling back to you on her hands and knees, begging for forgiveness." William glowered at him. "Or you could simply forget her, find a new dame. The world is full of them. You only need to take your pick. If you want I can-"

"Silence!" William's fists slammed down upon the table.

Othello sat back and chuckled. "There, you see! You have answered your question about what to do for yourself. It's obvious you still love her in spite of everything."

"But Grell-"

"I believe it was all an act as you were discussing with your feathered friend." Singing was then heard from downstairs and getting steadily louder. The door to the roof was opened and a handsome looking man stepped through singing cheerfully. Othello jumped up from his seat and embraced him. "Hail, Bravat! I didn't expect you home so early." They turned and went back down the stairs, completely forgetting about William.

Rosalind hopped back down onto the table and looked up at him expectantly. At least, that was how William interpreted the look. William petted her gently. "What do you want me to do?" Rosalind tilted her head to the side and back. William sighed. "I miss her too."


	9. Chapter 9

No matter how much she scrubbed, she could not get rid of the icky feeling. Now matter how much she told herself it was for the best. Because deep down she knew that it was wrong. So ever more wrong than her body not matching with her heart.

Grell was busy applying chemicals to her hair to remove the brown dye. She only hoped it wouldn't damage her hair. Jack had gone off to goodness knows wherever he went at this time of day. She didn't ask and he didn't tell. She was just thankful that she had these few hours to herself.

The others must be terribly worried about her. Grell debated with herself at least once a day if she should dig out her phone and call her friends in this spare time. At least one of them. Not William, as much as she missed him and desired to make amends. However, she always worried that Jack may come home early and catch her. He'd demand to know whom she was speaking to and...

She glanced in the general direction of the bedroom where her phone was hid. Her temptation was greater today. Jack would be expecting to eat when he got home. If she was late in cooking his food...she prayed he at least didn't come home drunk this time.

Examining a bruise on her arm, she scoffed. "He wants to protect me," she grumbled. The chemicals were rinsed from her hair and a moisturizing conditioner applied in effort to combat and damage that may have been done. Another thing she was thankful for was that he had let her keep it long. She had half expect him to order her to cut it off, or do it himself as was more likely to be the case. "Since when was this considered a means of protection?" She stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around her hair then pulled on a soft crimson robe. Stepping out into the hall, she looked once more towards the bedroom. She checked the time and after a moment of contemplation, trekked into the bedroom and retrieved her phone.

It was lodged between the nightstand and the wall, resting on the small shelf that was formed by the design of the furniture. The phone was turned on and a flood of voice-mails, missed calls, and text messages appeared on her screen. After they subsided, Grell dialed the one person she knew would keep a level head, and hopefully inform the others of her health as she told him. The one person she had sworn to herself not to call. "Please pickup," she pleaded as it continued to ring with no answer.

Just when she thought it was going to go to voice-mail, he picked up. "Grell?!"

"Will, please don't hang up." Her lip started to quiver and she bit down upon it to stop it. "I just need you to one thing for me. Then I won't ever call you again, I promise."

"Sutcliff, where are you? Everyone is looking for you."

"Everyone?" Her heart leaped at the thought that perhaps...

"Your friends, I mean," he said quickly. "Including Undertaker."

"Oh," her voice fell in disappointment. Of course he was still mad at her. Why shouldn't he be? "Will you just tell them that I'm all right? I just want to spend a little time to myself. Sort of a vacation. I don't know when I'll be back. I'd call them myself, but you know them. They would ask me all sorts of questions with all the drama, and I don't really have time for that."

"Grell..." he paused, "Sutcliff..." The front door opened and closed. Grell hastily ended the call and stuck the phone back in its hiding place after turning it off without so much as a 'goodbye' then hurried downstairs.

"Jack, you're home early." He gave no answer as he hung up his coat, a long black trencher. "I-I wasn't expecting you so early. I'm afraid dinner isn't ready yet. I was fixing my hair, see?" Grell removed the towel from her hair and shook her long hair, damp and limp, free to hang down her back as proof. "Personally, I hated that ugly brown too."

"Grell..." His tone was dark and dangerous as he finally looked at her. His eyes shone in the dim light. "What sort of work were you involved in while we were separated?" His words slurred in a manner that were evident of him drinking. Grell didn't answer. There was none that she could give that could save her for what was coming. She stood there resolutely as he approached her. He grabbed her roughly by the arms and she was hauled upstairs.

 _(x)_

Steadily, William strode to the entrance where Eric stood on duty. A cigarette hung out of the side of the Scotsman's mouth and William could tell he was none too pleased to see him. "What the fuck do you want?" Eric asked.

"I have a message," answered William. "From Grell." The anger passed from Eric's face, turning into concern. "If you would pass it on to the others."

The look of anger returned to Eric's face as he asked, "Why the fuck would he call you? After the way you treated him?"

William adjusted his glasses. "Clearly you d not know the whole story, nor will I take the time now to explain it to you. Believe what you want on the matter. I'm must here to deliver a message."

"Well, where is he? Did he say? Is he all right?"

"He says so. He said he was on a vacation and didn't know when he'd be back."

"Vacation?!"

"I find it hard to believe myself."

"You find everything he says hard to believe."

"Slingby..."

"Why did you come here anyway. It would have been simpler to call."

"Yes, it would have been, if I knew you would answer your phone once you saw it was me. I also wanted to see you personally. I didn't have to deliver this message, you know, but I would like for us to stop this squabbling. I believe my relationship with Grell to be my business, but if I am to reconcile with him I am going to need help, yours, Knox's, and Humphries'. I believe that Grell is in trouble. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in his life. It would best if we work together to find him and help him in anyway we can."

Eric relaxed a little and looked at him in surprise. "You really mean it?"

"Of course, some of this may depend on Sutcliff. If what he told me that night was in fact an act, as everyone insists, _then_ perhaps we come to reconciliation. If he is in trouble I will at least help him to get out of it."

Eric tossed the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and squashed it with the toe of his shoe. "Ya love him, ya don't love him, ya love him. Make up your damn mind will ya?"

"That question is better left up to Sutcliff than I."

(x)

" _Disgusting freak!" Aunt Tilly's nose stuck up in the air as it always did when presented with something she disapproved of. "I told you they would be trouble, Mildred. Did you mark my words? Right from the moment they were dumped on our doorstep. Lord only knows what the neighbors will say about this."_

 _Aunt Mildred said nothing. All she could do was stare at Grell with eyes as wide as saucers, face red at the sight, and wring hers hands in a fidgety manner when Grell had come down the stairs to show off her new wardrobe. A dress she had purchased earlier that day._

" _If I could, I'd throw him out of the house this instant," Tilly went on. "I don't want this sort of thing going on under_ my _roof. It's a sin. An abomination!"_

Grell woke. The time on the clock read 2:17 am. She must have passed out when Jack struck her on the head, or had she hit it on something during it all? She could not remember, but she considered this a blessing. Nonetheless, she felt disgusting. An abomination as her Aunt Tilly had said. That's exactly what she was now. There was no one that would want her now. There was no way she _could_ have anyone else, not with Jack in her life.

Tenderly, he rose from the bed, picked her robe off the floor and wrapped it around her, then went to the dressed and retrieved a set of pajamas. Baggy, red plaid things and certainly not the sort of pajamas she liked to wear, but she had purchased them in a (failed) attempt to deter Jack. Grell started to make her way to the bathroom to clean up (and take some painkillers), but stopped. A nervous glance was made towards the nightstand, then at Jack's sleeping form. Did William deliver her message? Should she...?

' _No, I promised I wouldn't call again. It is a very inconvenient hour, plus Jack is here...but if I could at least hear his voice, I might...No, a promise is a promise.'_ She took a step toward the bathroom and looked back once more. ' _To hell with my promise.'_ She knelt by the nightstand and removed the phone.

In the bathroom, Grell turned on the shower to drown out any noise should Jack wake. The toilet seat lid was put down and she sat on it. Grell took a deep breath and turned on the device then dialed William's number, putting the call on mute so he couldn't hear her. He answered on the third ring. " _Mmmwilliam T. Spears_ ," he said sleepily. She couldn't help but smile at his failure to pronounce his name while half awake. He sounded so adorable. " _Hello_?"

"William...I just wanted to say, 'I'm sorry'...about everything."

William must have looked at the caller i.d., for after a moment of silence, he asked, " _Grell_?"

"I know I said I wouldn't call again, but I wanted to hear your voice. I-I didn't mean what I said. You probably wouldn't understand if I told you why I said what I said, if I could even _begin_ to explain it, but believe me it was for the best."

" _Grell...Grell, I do not know if this call was placed on accident, but please answer me. Tell me where you are so we can help you."_

"Oh, my darling," she smiled sweetly, "there is no help for me. We can never see each other again. You're better off without me. You should marry some nice girl, a distinguished woman from an upper-class family. Not a disgusting freak like me. A whore that only pretends to be a woman. I want you to know I love you...At least, I think I do."

" _Grell, if you can hear me, answer me._ "

"Goodbye, my darling."

She now knew what she needed to do. The way for her to escape this nightmare. There was only one way to do it. Turning off the water, she made her way to the kitchen. Taking a knife from the kitchen drawer, she proceeded to carry out her plan.

Her favorite color, that beautiful crimson against a beautiful white canvas.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

This chapter has been kid tested, mother approved.

(my bet okayed it :D)

(a little more crack for you guys, sorry, night shift is making my brain wiggy. Dialogue taken from and inspired by the anime. warnings: violence)

Note:guuuuu = japanese sound effect for stomach growling

"Thank you for coming," Abberline said upon the arrival of Grell's friends plus William and offered them seats. Two files sat beside each other upon the table. Abberline opened the larger one and got started. "Using the information you gave me, I managed to find files on a Grell and a Jack Sutcliff, born to George and Anneliese Sutcliff. Mother died when they were five. Some sort of horrific accident. I couldn't find much information on it except that the younger twin, Grell was present when it happened."

"How awful," Alan said,

"The father was murdered in the home a few years later. The boys were there. The murderer was never apprehended. Afterwards, they were sent to live two Great-Aunts in London where they stayed until adulthood." Abberline opened the smaller file, "It's about this time that we lose track of Jack. He simply drops off the grid, disappears. All we know is the Aunts left him he house when they died. That's it, as far as he goes. As for Grell," he turned back to the larger file.

"I believe we know the rest," said Undertaker. A package of waffles sat on the table, which Ronald helped himself to without asking. "Sounds like our girl."

"Perhaps we can check out this house that the Aunts left Jack," suggested Alan, "If Grell is with her brother, maybe she is there."

"Here is the address." Abberline copied it onto a slip of paper and slid it across the table to be picked up by William. "You did not get this information from me, are we clear?" He looked at them pointedly.

"What information?" Undertaker grinned.

"Thank you for your help," said William.

"Yes, thank you," said Alan. Alan jogged Ronald's elbow.

"Mmmkyou," he said around a mouthful of waffle.

"We appreciate it," included Eric.

"Just don't go asking me for any favor like this. I could get in trouble," Abblerline said while closing the folders and stacking one on top of the other.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Eric eagerly. "Let's go get Red."

"We can all take my van," offered Undertaker and they all agreed, though William seemed hesitant. Going to his car, he retrieved the prototype set of pruning shears still in the trunk, for a precaution. He couldn't say why, but he felt rather attached to them.

Undertaker pulled his van, an old VW, and William opened the side door to climb in and stopped to gawk in his own way at the interior. Shag carpet furnished the inside from top to bottom. Pink shag carpet. "Get in, Willy," the mortician urged from the driver's seat. A ceramic jar resembling a cremation urn was handed to the passengers in the back. "Help yourself to some biscuits." Ronald looked in the jar to see biscuits resembling bones. Like the kind you find in the pet section of your local market.

"Eh, I'll pass."

"Ehehehehe~ Let's boogie." Undertaker mashed on the accelerator.

(x)

It was dark, and there was a musty smell. Grell felt weak and faint. When waking in the darkness she thought she had succeeded and was in whatever afterlife awaited her. Then she realized she was in the attic. Her wrists had been bandaged. Jack must have found her and stopped the bleeding before it was too late. Why he had put her in the attic, she had yet to find it.

She felt her way over to the trap door that led downstairs and to her dismay, found it locked. Having no strength to try and force it, she sat back down on the floorboards and waited. While waiting, she fell asleep. She was woken by her stomach growling. Her mouth was parched and dry. She felt less faint, but only slightly less. After another long period of waiting and stomach growls, Grell drifted off again. Grell only re-awakened when she felt someone stroking her hair.

"Such a naughty thing," Jack said quietly. "What did you go and do a thing like that for? Don't you love me anymore?" Grell didn't answer. Instead she thought of ways she should have done herself in. It would have been better if she had hung herself, or jumped out a high window. Though these would have been less graceful deaths in her eyes, at least she might have succeeded. Grell's stomach growled loudly. "My darling hasn't eaten in a while."

"I'm not your darling," Grell retorted.

Jack frowned in the dim light that came from the open trap door. "I was about to say that if you promised to be good, I would let you come down and eat. Why must you always be difficult?"

"For one, what we are doing is wrong. It's disgusting. You are my brother. In this I'm glad that I am physically male. If I were otherwise, I have no doubt you would make me bear your children. Second, you talk about protecting me yet you beat me. Force me to...to do such do such despicable things. You're worse than father ever was. You're crazy and I wish you had never been born!" Jack's petting stilled as she spoke. She could sense the fury radiating off of him, but she didn't care anymore. If he killed her, then so be it. It would end her miserable existence.

He rose abruptly, allowing her head to drop to the floor. It fell hard enough to daze her as he made his way to the ladder. "You've been putting on a little weight. I think it's time you went on a diet." She had just begun to make for the door when he shut her up in the dark once again.

 _(x)_

"This is it right here."Alan, who was navigating pointed at a house sandwhiched in with all the other row houses. Undertaker found a parking spot and they all got out of the van. William was first to the door with shears in hand. He rapped sharply on the door and waited. The door opened slightly, concealing the person on the other side.

"What do you want?" a voice asked gruffly.

"I am here for Grell Sutcliff," William answered.

"Go away," demanded the voice and the door started to close but William stuck the shaft of his shears through the opening to stop it.

"I am not leaving until I at least speak with him."

"Who are you?"

"I am William T. Spears, supervisor of the Grimm Garden Tool and Bird Seed Association."

"So _you're_ William," the voice said venomously.

"And you are Jack Sutcliff, I presume."

"Grell doesn't want to see you and I don't want you to see Grell, so leave."

William opened his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by a suave voice saying, "Excuse me." It was Sebastian, the Phantomhive butler with a mocking smile. "Would you mind moving aside, Suit? I have orders from my young Lord to dispose of 'Jack the Ripper', as he has become known to certain circles. Her majesty the Queen has asked us to stop this illegal organ harvester. We also have the added incentive of him being the murderer of my master's beloved aunt."

"Long time no see," Jack greeted. Sebastian kicked open the door, sending Jack sprawling back onto the staircase. He recovered quickly and retrieved a chainsaw from beside the staircase. From the doorway, William got a good look at Jack. Absolutely identical to Grell, pardoning the hair cut.

The motor roared to life and engine was revved a few times. A flash of silver shot out towards the red head. Jack easily deflected the table knife thrown by Sebastian. "Has Romeo come to save his Juliet?" Jack taunted. "A man as handsome as you, surely she had an eye for. Tall, dark, you know..." Jack rushed forward, swinging the chainsaw downward.

"Don't say such repulsive things," Sebastian shuddered, blocking the saw from hitting its mark with tableware between his fingers. Sparks flew. The battle led up the stairs, metal clanging on metal. William chased after to see what he could do.

Jack had pinned Sebastian to the wall. The blade cut into the wall. "Now, now, if you don't escape, you'll get cut," Jack said with a murderous grin. The blade tore at the fabric of Sebastian clothing. "It's so much more stimulating when it hurts a little, isn't it?" William struck out with his shears. It was dodged by both. Sebastian managing to duck out of the way from the revolving blade of the chainsaw as the shears struck the wall instead of either of the fighters.

Sebastian delivered a swift kick to William. "Stay out of my way, if you please."

"I've had enough of you. I'll send you both to heaven!" Jack growled with a feral look.

"Heaven?" mocked Sebastian, coming up behind Jack and surprising him. "Heaven and I are strangers." And he kicked towards Jack's head, Jack narrowly avoiding it. Jack came at him. Sebastian dodged and pinned the chainsaw to the floor by pushing his foot down upon the motor carriage.

"Our adventure ends now," said Jack. The chainsaw was eating into the floor, as Jack fought to free it from under Sebastian's foot. "Allow me to give you a parting kiss on behalf of Grell!" Jack shouted, delivering a headbutt to Sebastian's forehead.

The two parted and Sebastian took the time to examine his clothing which was full of cuts and tears from the battle. "Oh, no, my clothes are ruined again," he said ruefully. "This is past mending." He began to unbutton his topcoat.

"You're pretty confident, worrying about your clothes at a time like this."

With a flourish, Sebastian removed the swallowtail coat he wore. "This is one technique I didn't want to use, but there's no help for it."

"So you're finally going to get serious with me?" Jack asked, readying his blade. "Shall we close the curtain with the next blow? Say, 'goodbye' to this world."

They came at each other. Sebastian dodge the revolving blade and jammed his coat in between it and the motor. The motor came to a halt, unable to rotate with the coat stuck in it. Jack tried to tug it free but could not. "That tailcoat is made of high-quality Yorkshire wool. Wool has one of the highest frictions of all clothes. Oce it gets enmeshed in something, it is very difficult to remove. The coat was supplied to me by the estate, and I didn't want to use it, but you had ruined it already, after all. Now," said Sebastian, cracking his knuckles and smiling as he loomed over Jack, "in a normal fist fight I feel a certain amount of confidence." Blow after blow Sebastian rained down upon his opponent. Both kicks and punches. While an impressive fighter with a weapon in hand, Jack was defenseless when it came to fists.

One last punch from Sebastian sent Jack over the railing to the first floor. Sebastian went down the stairs carrying the chainsaw. "I'll get you from this," Jack garbled on the verge of consciousness."

One tug and Sebastian pulled the coat free from the saw. He kicked Jack again, leaving his foot pressing onto Jack to hold him. "I don't enjoy being kicked, but doing the kicking feels rather nice." He turned the chainsaw back on and Jack screamed defensively, for once afraid for his life. "You scream nicely. As a reward I'll kill you with your favorite toy." Sebastian raised the blade overhead.

"Please, stop!" Jack begged.

"No," answered Sebastian with a smile and brought the blade down. William's shears shot out and stopped the rotating blade from making contact with the redhead. Sebastian back off a little as William jumped over the banister and 'accidentally' landing on Jack.

"I apologize for interrupting," he said, "I shall be taking charge from here. I am sorry for all the trouble this wretch has caused. I ask that you leave him to my friends and I. Whatever this thing may have done, if you go much further you shall kill him. There are better ways of handling these things besides murder."

"I have orders. I must obey."

"My companions and I will deal with him. Be off. You needn't worry about your master's orders. We shall see that the proper authorities deal with him."

Sebastian chuckled. "Forgive me, but I find this amusing. What would the police do? Where is your evidence? My master ordered him dead. Does he look dead to you?" William thought for an answer to satisfy the butler. Sebastian looked at him thoughtfully and said, "I wonder where Grell Sutcliff is."

William's eyes widened and he hurried up the stairs. He glanced wildly about the hall, trying to figure out where best to start when he heard a soft pounding from above. Looking up, he saw a trap door in the ceiling. " _Jack, you bastard. What's going on? Let me out!_ " William reached up with his shears to undo the lock. The door fell open and Grell toppled out with a look of surprise at the sudden fall. William caught her, but the abrupt weight caused them both to fall to the floor.

Grell blinked at the sight of William, sitting in his lap, half certain her eyes were playing tricks on her. "William?!" She gasped. "Where's Jack?" William could only stare, his face turning a bright red. They had been intimate, yes, but he hadn't expected her to topple out of there stark naked. "What are you doing here? You need to leave. Jack could come back at any minute," she said rapidly.

"Jack has been taken care of," William answered, taking off his suit and wrapping it around Grell's shoulders. "Sebastian Michaelis has dealt with him. In fact, we should be getting back down there. He said he was going to kill him."

"Good riddance!" Grell said with contempt.

William was taken aback by her venom. She wanted her brother dead. "I understand he may not be the most respectable person. However-"

"You understand nothing!" She spat and got up and marched to the bedroom. She rifled through her dresser looking for something to wear, however, she was not concentrating, distracted by the million thoughts in her head. Frustrated and at a loss on how to react. Why was he here? He wasn't supposed to be here.. Her fantasies weren't supposed to come true.

William had followed her into the room. "Perhaps this is because you will not let me understand." He spoke calmly, keeping his emotions in check. "You don't look so good. Did Jack do that to you?" He asked, noticing her wrists and scattered bruises on her body.

"I thought you never wanted to see me again," she said bitingly. "Why are you here?"

"I never said that, but I did say a lot of things I would like to atone for, if you would permit me. I am here because your friends became concerned when broke all contact and disappeared."

" _My_ friends...why are _you_ here? That was the question." Finally making a selection, she laid the clothing out on the bed. The suit jacket was removed and the other clothing put on. Just as William was going to answer, the sound of several pairs of feet came up the stairs along with inquiries to Grell and William's locations. They all crowded into the room just as Grell finished dressing. Alan rushed over to her to hug her and inspect her wounds. Ronald and Eric took positions nearby while Undertaker lingered in the doorway.

"Michaelis has gone off, taking Jack with him. Would have stopped him, but I can't afford to have the Earl poking his nose into my business," he informed William quietly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Grell repeatedly assured her friends over their questions and fawning.

William stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Grell, could we speak alone for a moment or two?"

Grell gave it a moment of thought before tossing her hands in the air. "Oh, very well. Let's let him say what he wants to say."

"We'll be right outside if you need us, Red," Eric told her as they filed out the room.

William closed the door then turned to face her. Her arms were crossed. "You asked me why I am here. I am here to ask see if you still hold to what you told me." He stepped closer. "Your friends are insistent that it was all an act on your part. I want very much to believe them, but I will not until I hear it from your own lips."

"If you are so set against the idea, why bother at all then?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed and drawing up her legs.

"Damn it, Grell Sutcliff, why must you be so difficult?" he burst. He took a breath and calmed himself before continuing, "I have never cared for a person before you. Not in this way. You fill my every being. I _don't_ understand, you are right. I do not understand you or many of the things you say or do. I _want_ to understand, but you will not let me. Why? Will you at least tell me tat much?" Grell didn't answer, but rather turned her eyes to look elsewhere in the room. "I am not concerned about your past, only your future, which I would like to be a part of."

"You are willing to be seen with a whore?" she spat.

William regarded her for a moment. "No, I am not. If that is what you no longer are. I cannot love you for being something you are not. I can only love for what you are. Even if you were still one, I do not think I could help but want to be near you, as much as sharing you with others may displease me. I am selfish when it comes to my lovers. If this were to be the case, do not expect me to be engaged with sexual or relations with you. I will still be...friendly...towards you." William watched as Grell's lower lip disappeared under her teeth as she bit it. Her face was strained as she fought to keep from displaying emotion. "If you tell me you feel nothing at all for me, then that will be the end of it. You will not have to see me again."

Grell could no longer resist. She put her face in her hands and started crying. "I don't deserve you!" she sobbed. "How can you love a creature like me?" William joined her on the bed, the worn out springs creaking under his weight. He slowly circled his arms around her in a comforting manner. She leaned into his embrace.

"Because I chose to," William answered. "Are you afraid?" he asked. "To let me get close to you?"

"That's part of it. Everyone who gets close to me ends up hurt. There have only been a few that haven't, but they weren't romantically involved with me. That short fling with Eric doesn't count."

"You and Eric?" William questioned aloud. Eric had never mentioned it. This information surprised him.

"It meant nothing. It was just sex. It didn't last long and it was a long time ago."

"Oh."

"Everyone ends up hurt, or worse," she sniffed. William reached into his breast pocket and took out a pocket handkerchief. With it, he dabbed at her eyes before handing it to her. "No," she went on, pausing to blow her nose, "I'm no good for you. I _am_ a whore. I've slept with so many I've lost count. All for money. I'm lucky I don't have any diseases. I- I-" She cried some more into the handkerchief. "When you started to ask me out, my life was going through a change. I was upset when you suddenly changed your mind. I thought all sorts of horrid things about you and decided I would hurt you emotionally for toying with me. Make you fall in love with me and then break your heart. Then you showed up at the hospital, I lost heart in it. You so gallantly offered your home to me when I had nasty, mean intentions just moments before. We made love and I just couldn't do it anymore. I felt so guilty and ashamed of what I had been planning, I _had_ to leave. It wasn't right. I wouldn't have you saying you loved me under false pretenses. So you see, you don't want me. I've done terrible, terrible things. Unspeakable things..." She wrung the handkerchief in her between her hands.

"Must you be so dramatic?" William snapped. Her eyes snapped up to meet him, wide at his sudden abrasiveness. Red and puffy from weeping. William took a calming breath, determined to see this through, even if this new information was a little unsettling. "I am not concerned with your past. I am willing to put everything in the past and leave it there that we may start over. No matter how many you have been with, I wish to be your last from now until the end, if you will let me."

"Oh- oh, darling, that sounds so romantic, but if you only knew-" She looked down at the handkerchief she had been toying with.

"Then do not tell me. I do not wish to know. Do you want me? Be honest." He turned her head to look at him directly in the eyes.

She took a deep breath that hitched as she summoned the nerve to answer truthfully, "Y-yes."

"Do you love me?"

"More and more every day."

"Then..." he tilted her chin and moved in to kiss her. Her eyes fluttered close as his lips drew near.

 _Guuuuuuu!_

She drew back and her face flushed. How unromantic! Her empty stomach growling loudly and interrupting their moment. In all the excitement and emotion, she had quite forgotten her hunger. "Will, do you mind if we go get something to eat first?"

(x)

"How do I look?" Grell asked, turning slightly in her red gown. "Doesn't this waistline flatter my figure?"

"You look great. Only...aren't wedding gowns supposed to be white?" asked Ronald.

"That girlish, infantile white color? So virginal. Nhin~," she blew a kiss at her reflection in the mirror, "and I'm not exactly a virgin am I? No, no, passionate red, sexy and decadent is for me!"

Alan approached and handed Grell her bouquet. "But do we really _have_ to wear these?" asked Ronald, tugging disparagingly on the fabric.

"Well, it's too late to change now. Besides, who else would be my bridesmaids? And bridesmaids wear dresses." Grell answered.

"It's won't be for very long," Alan whispered in Ronald's ear while Grell primped some more. "Just bear with it."

It was time and the three joined the small wedding party in the hall of the little white chapel. Alan took Eric's arm while Grell took Pops'. The music started and the doors opened. Ronald started down first, doubling as a 'flower girl', much to his chagrin with plans to hide rice everywhere he could think of in the bride's belongings during the reception as payback for this humiliation and ruin of his image. Behind him came Alan and Eric who carried the rings. "You look good in a dress," Eric whispered to Alan.

"Don't you be getting any funny ideas," Alan whispered back. "I'm only doing this for Grell and for this day only."

Finally, came the bride. All stood as she marched slowly in time with the music and ignored the unpleasant looks she was getting from the groom's side of the family, those that had showed up. She held her head high in defiance to them and smiled. She was pleased to see that Andrei had accepted her invitation and had managed to contact Sascha and Rudgar, her friends from Germany so they could be there as well. Undertaker had insisted on being invited and after the way he assisted in her 'rescue' she could not say 'no'. Some of her former coworkers from the nightclub were also in attendance.

After these brief glances to her friends, she turned her gaze on her husband to be. She couldn't help but adore the way he looked all nervous and jittery as he awaited to take her hand, constantly adjusting his glasses, but his eyes shown with love and the nerves melted away as her hand was placed in his. He firmly gripped her hand.

"Dearly beloved," the priest started after the congregation had been seated, "We are gathered today to unite this man and this...woman?...in holy matrimony..."

The End

 _I didn't originally plan to have a wedding scene, but when trying to figure out how to end this, it just sort of seemed the right ending. Hope you enjoyed._


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